


Jak and Daxter: Safety

by TempoWrites



Series: Safety [1]
Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: Anal Sex, Animal Transformation, Best Friends, Bisexuality, Blow Jobs, Boys Kissing, Canon Het Relationship, Character Development, Childhood Sweethearts, Consensual, Consent, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cunnilingus, Cute, Developing Relationship, F/M, Feelings, Feels, Foot Jobs, Foreskin Play, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Frottage, Furry, Gay, Grooming, Hand Jobs, Het, Humor, Illustrated, Illustrations, Interspecies, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Kissing, Knotting, Love, M/M, Massage, Masturbation, Multi, OT3, Oral Sex, Orgasm, Ottsel Daxter, Plot, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Relationship(s), Requited Love, Sex, Sexual Content, Size Difference, Strong Female Characters, Sweet, Tentacles, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M, Transformation, True Love, Vaginal Sex, Video & Computer Games, Virginity, Voyeurism, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:11:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TempoWrites/pseuds/TempoWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Daxter and Tess grow closer Jak begins to feel like the third wheel, but a furry mishap may bring the three closer than they ever imagined. Tess/Daxter/Jak</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Daxter and Tess grow closer Jak begins to feel like the third wheel, but a furry mishap may bring the three closer than they ever imagined. Tess/Daxter/Jak

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 0  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

Note: This is set between Jak 2 & 3.

_As Daxter and Tess grow closer Jak begins to feel like the third wheel, but a furry mishap may bring the three closer than they ever imagined. Tess/Daxter/Jak_

“Why do I feel like I’m about to do Tess a disservice…?”

From Jak’s pauldron, his best friend huffed a laugh. “Oh, you’re doin’ her a disservice, alright. You’re givin’ her a small taste of the magic that is Orange Lightning, only to yank that magic away before she could possibly get her fill. That’s harsh, Jak.”

The hero rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Right.” 

Gravel crunched under his boots as they approached the slumped shell of the Hip Hog Heaven saloon, neon signs now dark and lifeless. Krew’s recent demise had left the future of the place in limbo. For lack of somewhere better to go, Tess still kept her room in the living quarters upstairs. She would probably be grateful for the ottsel’s company now that the bar was closed indefinitely.

“You sure you wanna stay overnight, Dax? I could come back for you later.”

“What are you, my chaperone?” The smaller of the two flicked his friend’s ear tip lightly. “I’ll be fine, pal. Tessie’s fine with me curling up on her couch for the night. You just mosey back over here tomorrow afternoon like we planned.”

Jak sighed as they reached the door and Daxter leaned forward to knock eagerly. There was no reason in the world that the ottsel shouldn’t stay with Tess if he wanted to. Unfortunately, knowing that didn’t make it any easier for Jak to let him go. They hadn’t spent a night apart since the day Dax had sprung him from the baron’s prison. No matter how foolish it made the hero feel, he was loathe to let his small friend out of his sight for any longer than necessary.

Welcoming light spilled suddenly into the darkening street. “Daxxie!” Tess smiled hugely as the door and her arms opened wide. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

The mustelid flashed her a smarmy look. “That makes two of us, sweet-cheeks.”

Jak leaned forward reflexively as Daxter hopped easily from his shoulder to the blonde barkeep’s arms. Despite the metal plate, the shoulder felt somehow glaringly light. He cleared his throat. “Hey, Tess. Looks like he’s all yours.”

Snuggling the ottsel in her arms, she kissed his forehead indulgently. “Thanks for bringing him over, Jak. We’re gonna have so much fun!” She spared the other human a glance. “What are you up to tonight while I steal your partner in crime?”

He shrugged his oddly empty shoulder awkwardly. “I figured I’d run a few rounds through the gun course, then head over to Keira’s. I’ll be back tomorrow. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Sure thing. But don’t worry—we’ll take good care of each other, won’t we Daxxie-waxxie?”

The ottsel’s tone took on a distinct purr as he nuzzled into her hug. “Sure we will, toots." He waved an orange paw. "See ya later, Jak!”

Biting back a surge of unexpected jealousy, the green-blonde waved and turned his back. The street once more returned to shadow as the door clicked closed behind him.

Jak kind of sucked at being a regular guy. He’d been saving the world since he was fifteen and that was all anyone expected of him. That was also something he couldn’t do at the moment. Kor was defeated. Erol was dead. Baron Praxis’ iron rule lay in shambles, the city slowly beginning to put itself back into some semblance of normalcy.

But what if Jak couldn’t do the same?

With a deep breath, he began the long walk to the gun course. At least Daxter was making an effort at getting on with his life, even in the face of his continued fur issue. The very least Jak could do was wish him the best.

~ ~ ~

On hands and knees, Tess peered under her bed. In the shadows she spied a lump of orange, too far under for her to reach. She sighed. "Daxter?"

The ottsel curled his tail tighter around himself. "I—Uhh… Nothin' to see here!"

"Aww, Daxxie, I don't mind! Really!" She could probably shift the bed and grab him, but that seemed mean. Poor guy. Not his fault no one in Haven City sold pants his size. 

And the evening had all been going so well, too. They'd spent it swapping stories, reveling in the chance to spend time together away from the activity of the bar, studying the blueprints of each other's lives. He'd been lounging over her lap, three feet of adorable orange fluff. Who could blame her for stroking his pelt? He certainly didn't mind. 

In fact, he'd liked it a little too much. Daxter lay zonked out over her thighs, his usual reaction to being petted. The fluff of his crotch usually kept matters from getting indecent, but her hand swept a little too low and bumped something warm. And stiff. 

She glanced down to see a finger-sized length of pink flesh poking from a sheath of creamy fur. Smooth, sleek, and adorable: it bobbed against her fingertips, begging to be touched. 

Daxter had snapped from his reverie in an instant. For a frozen second, he looked up at her—mortified. Then he’d flailed to the floor and scrambled under the bed.

If only she could lure him out. A trail of beer bottles might do it. Or…

A few minutes later, she sat on the bed and waited. As she watched, curiosity hauled the mustelid out to examine a series of gentlemen’s magazines. 

"Dang..." He stood and flicked through a few pages, then gave her a still-bashful glance. "Wait. Where'd ya get all those girly mags in such a hurry?"

From the bottom of her stack of gun and zoomer mags. But he didn’t necessarily need to know that just yet. "Oh, Daxxie." She waved the question off and patted the bedsheets. "I think you'll find I'm pretty open to new experiences."

He clamored up onto the bed in a self-conscious slink. "I’m...uhh...really sorry. It’s just, I’m not exactly used to hot babes putting their hands all over me, though my reputation might say otherwise." He wrung his tail. "Any way I can make it up to you?"

"Sure!" Her slim hand patted his ears. "You can sleep with me."

His mouth hung open.

"Not like that, Daxxie-kins." She laughed. "When I was a little girl, I always slept with a stuffed bunnchilla. I kind of miss having something warm and soft to hold—and you're the warmest and softest around." Well, mostly soft. "Besides, we’ve cuddled plenty of times before."

He gulped, then looked at his feet. "You still want me to be your…snuggle-muffin?"

"Of course!" She paused, not wanting to push him. It seemed that he got pushed around more than she cared for. "But only if you want to."

Standing at his full couple feet of height, Daxter smiled up at her. One gloved paw scratched the back of his neck. "Ya know, I can’t think of anything I’d want more."

She stroked his sleek ears, their gazes meeting, for once at the same height. "Me either." 

With a giggle of glee, Tess bounced out of bed to turn off the lights. Then she snuggled under the covers and wrapped him in her arms. As moments passed in starlight, his breaths slowed. Sleep settled over her, the patter of ottsel heartbeats a soft drumming against her own. 

~ ~ ~

Sunlight streamed into Tess's window to gleam off the various gun components propped around her room. She brushed a lock of blonde hair from her eyes, then snuggled into the silken fur of Daxter's ears. 

She hadn't always liked living above the bar. Krew had poor taste in company and poor odor in general. But, as a mole for the Underground, it made sense for her to be there as much as possible. By now she had been there so long she was able to call it home with some affection.

A soft snore from Daxter broke her contemplation. She looked down to see him nuzzling her cleavage, crittering contentment all the while. 

Her hands traced down his nimble body. He had such nice fur. She counted herself lucky if she didn't singe her hair with a blaster most days. Idle fingers caressed the sleek lines of his body. A happy little noise escaped his muzzle as he drew closer to her. 

Then she felt it. A gentle but insistent poke against her stomach. She swallowed, then suppressed a giggle. 

The slight shake of her amusement stirred the ottsel from his less-than-innocent slumber. "Hey, gorgeous." He flashed a groggy grin and nuzzled under her chin, whiskers tickling her bare neck. "Boy, I slept like a log."

"Oh, so that's what's prodding me." Her gaze flicked down between them.

His ears flopped back, eyes wide. That cute little rump wiggled back from her body, but only bumped straight into her hands. His legs curled up as he shrunk into a ball of embarrassment for the second time in twelve hours. "Uh—! I—! Err—!"

Before his monosyllable parade could continue any further, she kissed him. She had to; he was just too adorable. His lips, soft and smooth, met hers in a twitch of whiskers. 

Daxter moaned in surprise, then gripped her tanktop. That thick tail curled and uncurled in pleasure. His toes splayed against her thigh.

As the kiss ended, she watched his expression, searching for signs she'd been too forward. She'd never fallen for a guy like she'd fallen for him. She'd always had a soft spot for fuzzy critters, and this one happened to be the one thing rarer than an ottsel: a good guy. "Was that too sudden?"

"Heh heh, it was a little." One paw rubbed the nape of his neck. "But ya won't hear me complainin'." 

She smirked and drew a little closer, letting their noses brush. "Even if it happened again?"

"Especially then, sweet cheeks." He traced a tentative paw along her jawline. Their lips met again, this time with him nuzzling sweet little pecks all around her face. 

She smiled into the kisses, then reached a hand down to explore. Between his legs, she rubbed the smooth fur of his inner thighs in silent inquiry. When all those legs did was spread wider, Tess took the hint and began an eager exploration. The supple skin of his sheath slid with ease under her fingertips, tempting her to stroke more. 

With a pleasured gasp, he ground a slow hump at her palm. A tiny trace of liquid heat trailed across her hand.

Out of reflex, her fingers closed around it. With subtle wrist motions, she explored the smooth flesh of his cock. He felt so lovely in her grasp, about the size of her finger and half extended from its furry home. And very, very stiff.

Daxter bit his lower lip and arched his back. His tender sac pressed to her pinkie, cock brushing back and forth between her fingers. Soft paws settled on her wrists, urging her faster. 

With a pleased smirk, the human sped her strokes. Swept up in passion, she slipped her tongue along his lips, then past them. 

His muzzle opened to welcome her as she licked over smooth teeth and along his velvety cheeks. That quick little tongue lapped back at hers. A dribble of precum spread against her palm. 

She rubbed the thin fluid along his throbbing shaft. Still jerking him with one hand, the other traced around his balls to cup them. Just a little faster...

A shiver shot through him. Those sensitive little orbs jumped against her fingertips. Pulses traveled up his member to fire little shots of sticky passion over her knuckles. The ottsel squeaked in wonder as he spurted in her hand. After a few more spurts, he flopped to the bed, limp and dripping.

As he lay in afterglow, she cuddled him close. "A little pent up?"

"Mmmhmm…" Breathless, he nodded against her shoulder. "Mmmm..."

She kissed his satin-furred ears and held him to her chest. Pride charged up like a power cell; she'd given him a pretty good first time. At least, she assumed he'd never really messed around before. They'd have to compare notes later. At the moment, she had a more pressing concern. 

Her hand slipped into her shorts, still sticky with ottsel cream. Her folds, wetter still, were hot and swollen with anticipation as she rubbed the slick fluid along her waiting lips. The idea that it was Daxter's, that she'd made him climax, set her desire to overload. Her fingers curled into her passage, triggering a wave of bliss through her body. Fingering harder, she gave a soft gasp. Her snuggle buddy's dazed form lay alongside her, fine fur brushing bare skin. Heartbeats came rapid-fire, urged on by the tantalizing intimacy of being in bed with her long-time crush.

Daxter groped her breast, then nuzzled under her chin with a happy chirr. 

Tess went off with a bang. 

Orgasm rocked her body. Waves of tension and release rushed through her. The springs of the mattress creaked as she wiggled and bounced. Delighted moans filled the tidy bedroom. When, at last, she came back down, she glanced down at her bedmate. 

The ottsel drooled against her cleavage, but in an adorable way. 

Tess had gone from being a gangly kid to a tall, busty teenager to a taller, buster adult, but cute wasn't a word people attached to her. Well, cute in the sense of "cute butt ya got there," but never "aww, that's cute." She'd always liked cute things, though, even when she was posing as a badass barkeep for the Underground. After a stressful day, she'd sometimes cuddle up with a plush animal, from her small stuffed entourage. 

Daxter, meanwhile, had adorableness to spare. He seemed largely unaware of it, but ever since meeting him, she'd wanted to snuggle him. Now, with him nestling against her, she had hard evidence of his softness. 

Outside, the murmur of crowds mingled with the drone of zoomers, lit under a bright morning sun. Inside, quiet and comfort cloaked them. She pulled the covers up over them. Warm ottsel breaths spread against her throat as she drifted back into a peaceful, satisfied sleep.

~ ~ ~

Weeks later, against a sun-soaked sky, the zoomer dipped to sail between the skyscrapers. The good people of Haven City filled the marketplace below, along with the bad. Jak smiled, just glad to have no one shooting at him for a change. 

His best friend stood on his lap, ears blown back by the wind. His fuzzy orange paws gripped the controls, relying on the human to work the pedals. 

As they zipped over the wall and out over the bleak serenity of the desert, the blonde cleared his throat. "So, how're things going with you and Tess?"

The ottsel leaned backward against the controls with a sly wink. "Do you really want the sordid details?"

A green eyebrow rose. “There are sordid details?”

"Oh yeah." He examined his delicate claws. “Not to get too steamy, but she's been pretty thunderstruck by Orange Lightning."

Jak fought back a pang of jealousy as the zoomer thrummed, hovering. Not that he had anything at all against Tess. She seemed like a pretty great girl, and his friend had every right to be happy. He was probably just a little lonely; that must have been where the jealousy kept creeping in from. "That's great, Dax. She's a cool lady."

"If by cool ya mean hot..." The mustelid licked a finger, then pressed it to his tail with a simulated sizzle. 

The blonde chuckled, pretty sure he was getting messed with. This was Daxter, after all. The guy had a habit of hyperbole. Still, it couldn't hurt to let him have this one. "We should probably head back." He let a teasing purr enter his tone. "Wouldn't want you to miss a hot date."

"Oh yeah! It's movie night." A quick hop spun him around, and he pointed a furry digit onward. "Step on it, padre."

Jak rolled his eyes, more certain than ever that the two were as innocent as their saccharine flirtations. "See, that's adorable." 

~ ~ ~

Her forehead pressed to his, Tess smiled as Daxter nuzzled her. That velvety nose pad brushed bare skin, rivaled in softness only by his silken pelt. Her hands caressed his every curve. Never had a guy been so shameless in his affection for her; the very thought made her blush.

He edged forward to kiss her. Their lips met with a sharp inhalation of passion, his subtle masculine scent teasing her, spurring her heartbeat faster. That quick little tongue zipped along hers as fuzzy paws traced her jawline with infinite tenderness. 

Feeling quite overdressed, she unzipped her top. Breeze from the fan in the window played a cool caress along her naked skin. She guided those paws down her neck to her breasts. 

After a few shaky touches, the ottsel’s inherent immodesty took over: he groped inside her bra with enthusiasm. 

With a warm chuckle, she reached behind her back and unclasped the garment. She shrugged out of it, leaving her lover to gasp at her topless before him. The human drew him against her breasts and stroked his ears back with a delicate touch. Her tongue traced his lips, then slipped into his mouth to trace over smooth teeth.

Seated on her thighs, he savored each kiss, taken unaware when her hand closed around his stiffening ottsel length, which poked from its cozy sheath. Plump and hot, it stroked back with ease to reveal the full length of his shaft. He moaned and bucked into her hand, those delicate balls bumping against her palm.

With an ottsel paw toying with either nipple, she smiled down at his cock. She's seen a lot more of it since Belly Rub Day, which she'd silently resolved to make an annual holiday. Her hand stroked faster, drawing forth a moan from her lover and a thin dribble of precum from his tip. “Mmm, someone likes getting a handjob...”

“Uuuughh...” He whimpered into the crook of her neck. Those curvy Precursor hips bobbed against her grasp.

Still stroking, She leaned forward to whisper in his quivering ear. “Would you like it more if I were naked?”

He nodded, whiskers tracing her cheek.

Tipping to her back, she rocked down her shorts and panties. The bed creaked a little. With luck, it’d soon be creaking a lot.

Daxter stood at the side of the bed, nervous hands clutched under his chin. He just looked so darling, she couldn’t help but grab him and cuddle him. His fur swept like silk over her breasts and stomach. 

She stroked his pelt and kissed his anxieties away. Her palm cradled his crotch, urging him to hump against the heel of her hand. “Oooh, you feel really sexy.” As he hardened again, drops of heat spreading on her skin, she cast a gentle smirk his way. “Wanna be in me, big guy?”

He answered her with a deep, loving smooch. 

Laying back, Tess moaned as his tongue flicked her nipples. His stiff ottsel cock teased her loins. So slick and so hot, it traced their mutual pleasure. His furry tail brushed the insides of her thighs. It would tickle, if not for arousal racing through her veins. 

He traced a claw through her pubic hair, shyness forgotten but for the pink to his ears. “You ready for some orange lovin’, babe?”

“Mmmhmm.” She lifted her hips to him. Biting her bottom lip, she bore down on him. Her eager moans pushed him further and further, until he hilted into her folds. 

The ottsel pressed a few experimental thrusts, then flashed her a cocky grin and bucked into her faster. He gripped her midriff and humped with shameless enjoyment. That cute little pink tongue poked between his lips, ears waggling with every thrust. His dick prodded along her G-spot, almost like someone fingering her. The ottsel grunted, his face a portrait of bliss. 

She jostled her hips, wiggling around that length of hot mustelid flesh. One hand slipped down her toned stomach--her slim, bendy build left her plenty of room to rub her clit. With her other hand, she stroked down his back to grope the base of his tail. 

He shuddered. Pulses of rich ottsel cream coursed hot on her walls. A quiver of tension translated through the orange mustelid, wringing every ounce of pleasure from his limber body. 

Her lover shivering and spurting into her, Tess gasped aloud. Climax roared through her body with every twitch of his dick. Thighs squeezing together, she reveled in the feeling of his adorable little thrusts. 

As they slumped together atop the mattress, her heart raced to catch her breath. As his semen dripped from her, she petted his silken ears; he had all the best qualities of a plush animal and a hunky lover. After a few moments, he crawled up her body to nestle under her chin. 

The window fan droned on, stirring the corners of blueprints on her desk. The entire world seemed, for once, at peace. She traced idle fingers through his pelt. As the minutes piled up, though, a stubborn question stuck in her mind. "Jak's not going to be, you know, jealous, is he?"

"Jak?” He moaned against her neck. “What the heck does he have to do with this?"

"Well, you guys are pretty close.” Curling both arms around him, she chuckled. “Some people might assume you're really close."

"Babe, I can't deny everybody probably wants a piece of Orange Lightning." His paw slipped down a fuzzy flank. "But Jak's never shown much interest."

"If you say so, Daxter." She giggled. "I always thought you two made a cute couple."

"Look, I may have had a teeny little crush on the guy as a kid, but I doubt he ever noticed, let alone remembers. Ol' Jak's less about feelings and more about beating things."

“I don’t know… If I were him, I don’t think I keep my hands off you.” Her fingers slipped under his tail, then up between his legs. “Or my mouth, with this cute little package just a head’s turn away...”

“Do ya have to call it cute?” He squirmed, then trailed a fingertip down her cleavage. “I prefer ‘sensual’ or ‘studtastically virile.’”

She snuggled closer and kissed him on the nose. “Awww. It can be all three.”

“Good enough, toots.” With a contented sigh, he snuggled closer to her. “Good enough.”

~ ~ ~

As night air chilled the city, Jak poked his head into the bar. A romantic comedy's blithe blather echoed from the lounge. He followed it around the corner.

There they sat on the sofa, innocently smitten with each other, putting the movie's sappiness to shame. Dax draped over her shoulders. His fangirl cooed sweet nothings and fed him popcorn.

The ottsel neck-pillow perked up to greet him. "Hey Jakkie-boy."

"Hey guys." As he headed into the lounge area, he marveled at the far less dingy decor. "Either Daxter attracts more dust than I remember, or you've been cleaning, Tess."

"Cleaning and cleaning house. Ashelin managed to swing eminent domain." She crossed her arms with no small amount of pride. "As a convicted criminal, Krew's property rights reverted to the city after his death. I made sure the necessary paperwork got turned in so we got the bar as part of urban renewal."

"I'm thinking we'll name it something classy, like Daxter's Dapper Dive...or maybe Orange Lightning in a Bottle." He stroked his chin. "Unless we wanna save that one for my liquor line..."

"You're a woman of many talents." Jak couldn't help but smile. Daxter deserved somebody with common sense like her; deserved and desperately needed. "Can't blame Dax for moving in with you." 

A flicker of recognition sparked across the ottsel's face, then he gave a slow smile. "Ya know, ol' pal, Tess has confirmed that the comfy upstairs sofa is awful lonely, if you know what I'm sayin'. How about you spend the night too, next time?"

He considered the notion of no more nights a wall away from Samos the Snorer. "That'd be great, actually." 

~ ~ ~

Tess smiled as Jak closed the door after himself. The kid put on a tough front, but every interaction with his best friend revealed that soft side, a side she had to admit grew on her. She liked her men a little less scruffy, though, and a little more fuzzy. Idle fingers stroked Daxter's tail. 

The ottsel settled back in around her shoulders with a soft purr. The film played on. As the scenes turned steamy, something hot prodded the nape of her neck.

It took her a moment to realize just what had poked her. A soft jostle against the sofa confirmed her hope. With a giggle, she slid his body around from behind her head. That pink tip peek from its creamy sheath, adorable and tempting.

A squirm of shyness wriggled down the ottsel's body. "Heh-heh, Tessie, babe, whatcha doin'?"

"Just fluffing my neck pillow." Locking eyes with him, she gave his cock the tiniest lick. The delicate throb of his erection beckoned her forth, lips sliding down the length, pushing back the tender skin that protected it.

Her darling little whiskerpuss shivered at the sensation. Resting atop her breasts, he caressed her hair with four gentle paws. Each breath stirred her bangs. As his head rolled back, those funny little goggles slipped off his ears and bounced onto the cushions.

Her tongue swept and explored, savoring the feeling of his throbbing shaft and blunt tip oozing Precursor precum. She lapped at the tip like the sweetest candy as it drew, dripping, from her mouth. With a greedy grin, she wrapped her lips around his equipment. The fur of his sac and sheath soaked in an instant. Bumping his balls with her tongue, she rubbed his stiff cock along the ridged roof of her mouth. 

"Aaauggh!" Daxter shuddered and clutched her head. Spurt after spurt of sweet, musky ottsel seed splashed against her wiggling tongue. His curvy hips bucked against her mouth as she suckled his package. When at last the tension of orgasm passed, he slackened like dough in her in her hands, giving no indication of rising anytime soon.

With a smirk, she lowered him to her lap. Her tongue swept a dribble of ottsel cream from her lips as she picked a bit of fur off her teeth. Seeing him all dazed and grinning like that, though, made the effort more than worthwhile. 

"Whoa..." Dax's ears fought gravity and lost, flopping back against her thigh. "I don't even know what t' say..."

"You don't have to say anything, Daxxie-pie." She stroked his buttercream underbelly. Her touch trailed through his wet fur, stroking him dry as the movie babbled on.

Twenty minutes later, the plot wrapped up as expected, with the lovers overcoming their second-act misunderstanding. She'd seen the film plenty of times; Daxter, however, had a few hundred years of cinematography to catch up on. As she queued up the next movie, he bounded up to peer out a porthole. Those sapphire eyes traced the skies, ears perked for the sound of a tuned-up zoomer. 

She chuckled as she spun his forgotten goggles around her index finger. "You really have a thing for blondes."

"One has adventures with me, the other brings the adventure to me." He cast a wink back at her, then looked her up and down. "What's not to like?"

~ ~ ~


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tess and Daxter ponder the need to be there for their friend, while Jak gets some much needed...alone time.

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 1  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

Note: This is set after Jak X.

_Tess and Daxter ponder the need to be there for their friend, while Jak gets some much needed...alone time._

Zoomers buzzed overhead; commuters blocking out the morning sun for a split second each. Jak tossed a duffle of equipment into his buggy, then glanced around the city he'd spent the last four years defending: battle-scarred, bare of beauty, but slowly rebuilding. Here and there, little splashes of life returned, be it in flower pots on apartment balconies or citizens nor longer scared of bright clothes for fear of attracting the Krimzon Guard's attention. Even the graffiti seemed cheerful.

As morning light warmed the giant metal idol his best friend had built to himself, he walked back the Naughty Ottsel bar. The dance floor stood empty, while a pair of orange ears bobbed behind the counter. All around the lounge area soap boxes sat in strategic locations, allowing someone just under three feet tall to reach tables and shelves. 

As the door closed behind him, a blonde ottsel popped up. "Hey, Jak." Tess brushed a lock of hair from her blue eyes. "You’re up early." 

He nodded. "Gonna head out to the wastes. Heard some eco miners hit a cave while testing out new sites." He adjusted the morph gun on his back, then patted the rope at his hip. "Supposed to have a bunch of Precursor artifacts."

The lanky mustelid leaned forward onto the bar, standing on the foot-high step they’d installed. His best friend had a great girlfriend. Daxter kept people laughing at the bar. Tess made sure the stock stayed stocked, bills stayed paid, they had enough help, and… everything else. Her gaze stayed on the inventory tablet, though her tone softened. "Trouble with Keira again?"

With a grimace, Jak glanced in the mirror behind the counter. "Am I that obvious?"

She flashed him a gentle smile. "I’ve worked in a bar long enough to recognize something on the rocks." She cocked her head at the stairs. "Should we wake up Daxter?" 

As if on cue, a groggy ottsel waddled down the staircase in a terrycloth bathrobe. Pink. Bright, neon pink.

Tess perked up to a degree which should be illegal that early. "Morning, Daxxie-kins."

"Hey babe." He yawned and looked under the railing. "Jak! You just get here? Or’d ya finally use that key we gave ya?"

The blonde shook his head. "Just stopped in." He tried to hide a snicker with his hand. "Nice threads."

Daxter tightened the robe haughtily. "I’ll have you know, it was the only one in my size!" He marched down the last stairs, then scurried up his buddy’s body. "What’s this I hear about adventure?"

Tess climbed from the bar and onto the hero’s vacant shoulder. "I see how Daxter appreciates your perspective, Jak."

Unphased by mustelids climbing all over him, the young man cleared his throat. "Just some ruins."

"Taking my little honey-bunny with you?" Gripping his ear for support, she reached over Jak’s head to pet Dax’s shoulder.

"You can keep him this time. Not exactly fate-of-the-world stuff." Glancing in the mirror, the human shrugged under the weight of two ottsels. "Besides, I can't constantly pry the guy away from his beautiful girlfriend." 

The female ottsel smiled at her boyfriend, then at his best friend. "I could come with you."

Daxter cocked an eyebrow. "You sure you'd be up for that, Tess?"

She gave him The Look, with some extra to spare for Jak.

Her boyfriend averted his gaze and whistled his innocence.

"Actually, I was thinking you guys could stay here." One in each hand, he lifted his fuzzy friends from his shoulders and set them on the bar. "I’ve been over here a lot lately. Hate to be a third wheel."

"Mi sofa es su sofa, Jakkie-boy, as always." His small orange fist bumped the man’s shoulder. "Besides, it’s not like ya snore _that_ loud."

Jak gave a gruff chuckle. "Unlike some people."

"Hey!" The shorter of the Demolition Duo crossed his scrawny arms indignantly.

"Oh Daxter…" Tess turned on the coffee machine and slipped her hand around his flank. "You’re talking to the two people in the world who’d know."

"Anyway,” Jak said, “just didn’t want you guys to worry about me."

"We’ll try not to." She gave a reluctant smile. "Call if you need help."

With a curt nod and quick fist bump with Daxter, he headed for the door and fought back a pang of jealousy. Dax had it good with Tess. She was smarter than she let on and, just as important, actually kind—a commodity rarer than eco in a world of assholes. Plus, Tess was one person besides Jak who treated Daxter like a person rather than an annoyance. Heck, Keira and Samos knew he used to be human and they didn’t treat him as human as Tess did. Even before she had been turned into an ottsel he had tried to give the two of them time alone, between missions.

Jak, meanwhile, had a habit of chasing girls who couldn’t decide if they liked him or not. He sighed. No point in brooding, least of all when new adventures waited for him outside the walls of Haven City. Outside, in the cool morning air, he climbed in his dune buggy and rumbled off toward the city gates, trying to outrun his frustrations.

~ ~ ~

Tess listened as Jak drove off, wishing she could think of something to say to make him feel better, something that wouldn’t seem insensitive. She and Daxter never fought, though, so she had trouble wrapping her brain around the idea.

While the coffee brewed, her boyfriend padded back upstairs to get cleaned up. He’d figured out the correlation between having brushed his teeth and getting smooched. If other occupants of Haven City had been so clever, she might not’ve spent so much time single.

Why couldn’t Jak just settle down, get his own place while he sorted things out instead of bouncing around? The world wasn’t in any particular peril at the moment, after all. Somebody in the city would rent to the man who’d helped Daxter save the planet. She’d even clear out one of the store rooms for him, if he ever got tired of crashing on the upstairs sofa. Daxter wouldn’t mind having him to pal around with, and Tess wouldn’t complain about having another hunky guy around.

As she finished the inventory, she made sure to order more cream liqueur and orange soda. Their new mixed drink, the Belly Rub, had proved pretty popular, though she wasn’t sure people would be as excited about it if they knew where she’d gotten her inspiration...

A creak on the stairs interrupted Tess’s daydream. She turned to see a pants-clad boyfriend bouncing down the stairs.

He crawled up onto a bar stool. "I can’t believe he didn’t take me. I mean us. I mean… ya know what I mean."

She poured him a coffee. Two creams and three sugars swirled his beverage to a pleasing tan color. "I know what you mean. But he’s out in the wastes by now, checking out ruins. Too late to hitch a ride, I think." Reaching across the bar, she scritched under his chin. "Besides, I think he didn’t want to drag you off just because he’s having a tough time."

His tilted head up to enjoy the scratches as his orange paws closed around the steaming mug. "Still. I should’a made him take me. Explorin’ the Wastelands alone is crazy, even by Jak standards..." 

Tess nodded. She and her whiskerpuss had always taken advantage of Jak’s occasional brooding to spend time together. It had started as innocent little datey-things back when, watching movies and eating popcorn, snuggled together, and led to, well… belly rubs. She ignored the lingering simmer of arousal and cleared her throat. "You’ve known him forever. What’s he like when the world’s not ending?"

"I’m not sure either of us knows." He took a sip of coffee. "I’ve been looking out for him for years, though, and he’s a tough cookie."

The blonde ottsel gave him a slow nod."Still, I think we should talk to him when he gets back." She glanced out the window. "I don’t think he has anybody else to open up to."

~ ~ ~

Hours later, with a small satchel of Precursor artifacts at his hip, Jak considered heading back to Haven City. Outside the mouth of the cave, midday sun baked the desert. Heat rippled off the dunes, but, here in the shade, the air hung cool and light. He guessed he’d have to wait out the heat here. Not like anybody needed him back right away. Least of all Keira.

She'd still not really forgiven him for kissing Ashelin before they officially started dating, but she also still wouldn't acknowledge whatever had gone on between her and Erol; a recipe for resentment on both sides. Sometimes it seemed like a miracle they had ever gotten together at all.

When they were kids, Jak had always imagined himself being with Keira. Even though he’d been painfully shy, she’d always liked him. Then again, coming from a tiny village, her social options had been limited. 

But just today, they’d broken up for what felt like the hundredth time. Maybe Dax was right after all, the last time he’d spoken up with uncharacteristic use of both tact and gentleness—maybe too much really had happened, and they’d grown too far apart.

At least Daxter never changed. Not much, anyway; even with a sexy ottsel lady fawning over him, he still wanted to ride around on Jak’s shoulder. It had taken some convincing for him to stay in Haven City this morning, even with Tess aware Jak was trying to give them some alone time. 

Tess turning fuzzy, coincidentally, had turned out to have some surprising benefits. For one, an ottsel on each shoulder never threw out his back like carrying just Dax did. This earned him a few stray looks around town, but when you’re the city’s savior-on-tap, people cut you slack for being a budding ottsel hoarder. Another perk: the three of them fit in one zoomer now. 

Now several years into life as an ottsel, Daxter took being short in stride, though Jak wished he’d stop referring to it as "blowjob height." An image like that tended to stick in a guy’s head. Really, all it’d take would be the ottsel going on tip-toes to nuzzle right into his human pal’s crotch. He couldn’t even pinpoint exactly why, but lately, all it took was Dax brushing past to get him thinking about those gloved paws uncinching his belt, unzipping his fly…

Jak winced. The fact that he was having such thoughts about someone other than Keira was probably yet another letter in the writing on the wall. But more importantly even than that, he shouldn’t be thinking like this about his best friend. 

Sure, he’d had a crush on Dax when they were teenagers growing up back in Sandover. He was even pretty sure that crush had been returned, but insecurity had always kept his mouth shut, even after the time the two of them had "practiced" kissing. And after Daxter’s swan dive into dark eco, they’d been too busy saving the world. Repeatedly. 

Besides, heroes weren’t supposed to date their sidekicks. And they certainly weren’t supposed to stroke off thinking about them.

But the bulge in his pants insisted otherwise, as clearly as it said he had definitely gone too long without some quality alone time of his own. 

While his mind quibbled over scruples, the fantasy continued without his permission. 

_Daxter straddled his lap to nuzzle into his chest. Dainty ottsel paws swept over the tight shirt, then lower to explore his underwear, fishing out his stiff length. Nimble orange fingers rubbed his shaft. Hot little breaths, so common along his ear and neck, breezed over the head of his dick like a desert wind._

Glancing once more to the mouth of the cave, the blonde unzipped his pants. He just needed to let off a little steam, then he’d address whatever was going on between him and Keira and stop fixating on Dax like this. His cock sprung free to bob in the shade. His hand curled around it, easing into a familiar motion. Sliding down along the wall, he traced his fingertips along tender flesh—light and delicate, just like he imagined an ottsel’s tongue to be.

_That silken mouth closed over his tip, then froze for a moment, savoring him. Then Dax rocked side to side, loving licks rolling him around. He slathered affection around the head, sneaking under his foreskin for extra intimacy. Those supple lips pushed the skin back to slip behind the ridge, tongue teasing all around the head._

Even counting the times he and Keira had managed to stop squabbling long enough to run bases, Jak couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this hard. Possibly during the "practice kissing" incident. He looked down as he felt an impressive dribble of precum trail along his knuckles. Rolling supple skin over the head of his cock, he could feel a delicious tension building. He stroked faster, whatever feelings of guilt he may have had rapidly losing ground to pleasure. 

_Daxter pulled free, a single thread of saliva connecting that wonderful tongue to the tip of Jak’s straining cock. A tender claw-tipped finger traced up its underside, knowing how close he was. Those mischievous blue eyes flicked up from the heartbeat-quivered shaft to meet his gaze. He gave those creamy lips a slow, pleasured lick, then leaned closer..._

Jak’s breath hitched, caught on spikes of pleasure. "Dax..."

_Reading Jak like a book, as he always had, Daxter gripped his shaft. He stroked with playful speed, as the warmth of an ottsel mouth closed over Jak’s swollen cock head._

Jak slowed his strokes. He shouldn’t be thinking about Dax this way. The guy had a girlfriend now. A cute, sweet, sexy girlfriend...

_A second set of sleek paws closed around his shaft. Tess’s smiling muzzle opened against the side of his saliva-slicked dick. Daxter did the same, as they made out around the head of his cock. The instant those hot tongues wiggled together along his tender flesh, a surge of bliss struck Jak. His balls tightened. Delight pulsed up his shaft. Hot wetness flooded those grinning orange and yellow muzzles._

His body shook in pleasure. Dick already slick with arousal, the first blast of spunk rolled over his fingers to be scattered along the floor by frantic stroking. A second shot seeped all the way to his pulled-down boxer briefs. Moaning, the blonde milked unexpected ecstasy from his cock, any remaining hesitation swept away on gale-force lust. His hips jerked, erection pulsing in his grasp as fresh semen spurted on the back of his hand. As his climax ebbed, Jak lay back against the rock wall, only to realize he still had a rock-hard dick in his hand. He blushed --this hadn’t happened since he was a teenager-- but found himself stroking once again.

_Taking advantage of his orgasm-stunned state, the ottsels whisked off his pants. Taking a glop of cum from his chin, Daxter slicked it over his own erection and edged between Jak’s leg’s._

_Meanwhile, Tess smiled his way and swayed into a sultry dance, her supple paws clutching his erection to her pelt. The remaining evidence of his orgasm smeared into her fur, replaced by traces of heat wherever her slit traced his shaft._

_Back between the human’s thighs, the male ottsel brushed his tip to Jak’s entrance, then prodded inside. Lubricated by passion, his sleek length slid in, spreading that ring of muscle to enter him for the first time._

_Tail tracing Jak’s chest, the blonde ottsel cast a sensual smirk over her shoulder. She stood on his waist and pressed his tip to her slit, then leaned forward, offering both to her boyfriend._

_Her lover, sheath-deep in his best friend, leaned in to flick his tongue under the cock head. As his mouth spread again over the tip, his nose nuzzled along his girlfriend’s clit. Massaging Jak’s balls, he thrust again and again into virgin depths._

_In their every moan, their every stroke, their every lick, he could feel how much they wanted him, how much they enjoyed him._

Orgasm surged through him again, stronger than before. A second helping of semen shot across his hand, lesser in volume, but still greater in ecstasy. He looked down to see trails of white along his hand and imagined that same thick fluid dribbling down two sets of smiling ottsel whiskers. It could never be, he knew, but in the safety of fantasy and climax, he admitted he wanted it to.

Hot length softening in his hand, Jak panted, almost dizzy from the impact of two orgasms. The double-load of hot semen on his hand was a sticky inconvenience in the cool of the cave, and he almost wiped it on the leg of his pants. At the last moment, though, he lifted it for a lick instead. The fresh sperm coated his tongue in a salty musk. He imagined what Daxter and Tess would think of it, how eager they might be in cleaning every last drop of it off his cock. 

With a tired chuckle, he could almost hear his best friend snark: "Oh, don’t worry; Jak beats things all the time!"

Mind awash in pleasure, he could feel a doze coming on. He had just enough energy to tuck his pride and joy away before heavy eyes drifted shut. Afterglow cast his dreams in a lovely light.

_With two sticky ottsels curled against his chest, he lay on a soft bed, cradled by an even more comforting sense of belonging._

~ ~ ~

Jak opened his eyes to find night had fallen. He ran fingers through his long blonde hair and stood with a groan. Sleep hadn’t come easy the last few nights; must’ve finally caught up with him. Feeling a little sheepish, he admitted his coming so hard might’ve had something to do with it too.

Grabbing his satchel, he reached down to free the grappling hook from the ledge he’d climbed down. As he coiled the rope, though, a faint light caught his eye. Deep in the cavern, a green glow faded in and out. 

For a second, he considered heading back to Haven, coming back tomorrow. Daxter could probably use some adventure. No harm in checking it out first, though. Looping the cord through his harness, he rappelled down the crevasse. 

The ancient metal doors stood opened a crack, bisecting their curved engravings. Shining his flashlight above it, Jak saw a fresh, jagged break in the rock. Must’ve happened when the surveyors blasted in. Through the gap in the door, he glimpsed the weak, blinking light coming from some kind of hand tool. 

Jamming his crowbar into the gap, he forced the doors apart. With a rumble and a falling curtain of dust, it slid open. Inside, ancient consoles sat dark and crystals refracted his flashlight’s beam. He picked up the device that had drawn him here: some kind of power wrench. He stuffed it in his satchel. Sometimes the simpler Precursor devices led to discoveries of their own; after all, they had to be easier to reverse engineer. 

He made a quick search of the room, just in case other salvagers made it down here before he got back. In the gloom, under a fallen computer terminal, he spotted an ornate length of orange metal. He managed to work it free. The copper rod, about two feet long, clasped a polished green stone at the top. 

Nice. Even if it turned out to be broken, they might be able to figure out how it worked. As he stuffed it in his pack, it gave a click. A soft little click. 

A blinding release of energy flooded the room. 

Warmth rushed through his body, lifting him from the stone floor for an instant before dropping him again. He could’ve sworn he fell further than he’d risen. 

The flashlight in his hand seemed unreasonably hard to hold and heavy. He set it down, the beam the sole source of light in the inky cavern. 

Shaking his head and blinking in the renewed darkness, Jak touched his forehead, then froze. He was covered in something, something soft, smooth, and familiar. He glanced down at a pair of fuzzy orange paws. 

He swallowed, his throat feeling tighter, his voice higher. "Uh oh…"

~ ~ ~


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jak gets some cuddly lessons in being an ottsel from Daxter & Tess, leaving his life a whirl of new sensations and old feelings.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tess paced in front of her drawing board, adding little flourishes to the design. Adjusting the lamp, she nibbled at the dull end of an engineer pencil. A grenade launcher was always a classic touch, but it could throw off the balance. Designing guns that didn't launch ottsels backward had proved quite an engineering challenge.

Out the window, city sounds echoed across the darkened landing pads. Daxter snored in a corner, drooling a little as he sprawled on a cushion stolen from the lounge sofas. He liked to come in and "watch her work," though he seemed more interested in her tail than her technical drawings. 

Maybe if she made it top-loading, the ammo's weight would be far enough back—

The blonde ottsel looked up from her schematics, ears perked. Did someone just knock?

The faint rapping at the front door continued. 

She padded from her workroom to the bar and climbed the rungs installed on the door to peer through the peephole, only to see… no one. A prank, maybe? Or someone giving up after they realized the bar was closed?

Another knock, just as faint, just as insistent, reverberated through the door. 

She hopped down and opened it a crack. 

On the step stood a bedraggled ottsel. Harsh streetlights revealed singed green-blonde hair, a trailing red scarf, and a too-big satchel that looked as if it had been dragged through half the city. If they hadn't been in the desert, a dramatic rain probably would have started drenching him. He looked up and squeaked in a gravelly voice: "Tess, I..."

Tess blinked. She'd know that rough voice anywhere. "Jak?"

Jak squinted as she opened the door fully and let light from inside fall across her transformed friend. He coughed, voice hoarse. "Oh, good. I... I was afraid you wouldn't recognize me." One of his ears flopped down in front of his face and he batted it away with a snarl of exasperation. Tess noticed the fur around his eyes, as soot-stained and matted as the rest of him, looked damp as well. "I was down in these… these caves and I found some old Precursor stuff and—" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat, looking down at his feet. "I, um, didn't know where to—I mean, after I got..." He trailed off, looking helpless and sad and very, very lost.

She dragged him in from the doorway and into a hug. "Shh, honey. Of course you came here."

His arms wrapped back around her and squeezed hard, clearly glad for the comfort even if he hadn't dared ask for it. "I didn't mean to wake you," he got out at last.

With a final squeeze, she released him. "Don't be silly, Jak. You need us and we're here for you." She dashed back out to the stoop and grabbed his satchel, dragging it and the last foot or so of filthy red scarf inside so she could close the door. That done, she pulled Jak back into her arms, ignoring him as he protested his filthiness. "Daxter. Daxter! You should come here, honey."

With a groan from the other room, her boyfriend stumbled in, unzipping his pants. "Ya wanna do it on the pool table again, babe? We'll try not to get your tail stuck down the pocket this time—" Surprise froze him stock-still as he laid eyes on the new ottsel. 

Jak adjusted his oversized scarf and looked anywhere but at his friend. 

Daxter opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again, almost cracked a joke… then prudently shut up and joined the hug.

As they hauled him to sit between them on the sofa Jak tried a couple times to explain, but kept trailing off, as if momentarily forgetting mid-sentence that he now had the power of speech.

Tess shushed him as she patted his knee. "First rule of being an ottsel: cuddles solve everything."

\- // - // - // - // -

Jak awoke in a tangle of warm ottsel. Not for the first time—Dax had always been happy to curl up next to him and had insisted to Tess it was just what ottsels did. She'd joined within a month of her transformation. Something seemed odd about this cuddle, though. Usually the fuzz didn't extend so far along his body.

Oh, right. Some of this fuzz was his.

His eyes shot open.

Daxter blinked sleepily at him, obviously roused by Jak’s startled twitch to wakefulness. “G’mornin’, sunshine.” On Daxter’s other side, Tess uncurled with a petite yawn.

Jak cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh. Good morning.”

The other ottsel stretched, wriggled leisurely, and settled again. "Well, might as well cut to the chasse. Ya wanna explain what happened?"

Jak had given them only the barest description of last night’s events. With a deep breath, he forced himself to explain. "I was digging around at the new Precursor site the eco miners accidentally opened up and found that." He pointed at the metal rod poking from his satchel on the floor. "Next thing I know, I'm fuzzy and two feet tall."

Tess reached over Daxter and clapped a paw on his shoulder. "Well, you've come to the right support group."

"Getting here wasn't easy. This… body can't reach the pedals and the steering wheel of a dune buggy at the same time. So I jammed some priceless artifacts against the accelerator to keep it down." He shrugged. "It worked a little too well. I crashed into the gate and got thrown out the front."

Daxter grimaced. "Ouch."

Jak dismissed the concern with a shrug. "It's okay, I landed in a trash can."

The pair of ottsels lifted their hands from his pelt and exchanged a wince.

"I climbed out, grabbed the artifacts, and got here as fast as I could. I figured between the three of us, we could come up with a plan." He stroked his fuzzier-than-normal chin. "We should probably show Keira that relic."

Tess gave him a charitable smile. "Before we do anything, you should probably take a bath."

With a nod, Jak hopped off the bed. His new body seemed pretty responsive, considering he'd only had it a few hours. He padded upstairs to the bathroom and unwound himself from his scarf. 

After scrambling at the edge of the tub, he managed to turn the faucet on without falling in. He slipped into the steaming water, grabbed some shampoo, and tried to work it into his pelt, only to have most of it foam to bubbles in the filling tub. With a sigh, he sank and contemplated his situation. Things could be worse. At least he had a plan, friends, and moment's peace. 

The door burst open, booted by Daxter, who traipsed in with barely a "Hey, Jak."

"Dax!" Jak’s hands swept through the bubbles to cover his privates. "I'm in the bath, man!"

The scrawny ottsel bounced up a step ladder, onto the sink, and looked back through the mirror. "Yeah, and you're really that much more naked than you were with us on the couch all night." He blasted some toothpaste onto a brush and put it to enthusiastic use. "Besides, it's not like we didn't go skinny-dippin' as kids. An’ we took showers together all the time! Well, when you were human. Before I moved in with Tessie-kins."

The green-blonde ottsel swallowed his objections and scrambled for a topic to distract from his nudity. It was a lot more unnerving when the person seeing him undressed was suddenly the same size he was. "How do you even get this fur clean? The shampoo just slides right off."

Daxter gargled with gusto, spat, then turned to his pal. "You’ve got a waterproof undercoat now, Jak-o. Handy in cold water, not so much for bath time." He hopped from the sink to the wall of the tub. "Don’t worry, though—there's a trick to it."

Jak froze as his fellow ottsel reached down and scrubbed claws into his back fur. Hot water seeped to his skin in an instant, making him stiffen further. "H-hey!" His weak wave did nothing to discourage the grooming. "C'mon, Dax..."

"Relax, big guy." He chuckled, leaning in further. "You've been my personal stage for years. Why would we get all weird now?"

It felt… nice. A little too nice, judging by the feel of hot water against his unsheathing erection. He never thought he would thank the Precursors for bubble baths. A fierce blush burned in his drooped ears. "T-thanks." He wriggled away from his friend's paws. "I think I've got it from here."

With an amused chuckle, the shorter ottsel spread his fingers. "If ya say so. I've always had a vested interest in having you not stink, so I figured I'd give ya a head start." A hop bounced him off the side of the tub. He shook a fine spray of water from his paws, then swept one down his slinky body. "The Precursors really should’a left a how-to manual for all this."

Willing his erection back into its sheath, Jak peered over the side of the tub. "Yeah… I admit I have a couple questions."

"Anytime ya wanna ask, Jak-o." Daxter snapped a finger at him with a wink. "Basically got my doctorate in ottselology at this point."

\- // - // - // - // -

Daxter padded into the hallway a moment later, straight into the path of his girlfriend's smirk. 

Tess crossed her arms under her breasts. "You're lucky I'm not the jealous type."

"Hey!" He propped tiny fists on curvy hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She eeled over and slipped an arm around him. "You were pretty eager to help." 

"I couldn't just leave him hangin'. It took me forever to figure out how to get clean after I first got changed." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "I seem to recall showing a lovely lady ottsel the same tricks."

She poked him in the ribs and got a yelp out of him. "And I bet you also remember where it wound up leading, you big hornball. The poor guy's had half a day to get used to that body and you go pressing all his buttons with your magic bath fingers!"

"It ain't like that, babe!" Daxter's smile almost rang trustworthy, though the subtle bulge in his bathrobe gave away the lie. "Besides, Jak and I are close. He probably didn't give it a second thought."

\- // - // - // - // -

Jak sank in the bubble bath, overwhelmed. Soon, though, he found himself eye-level with the erection jutting from its sheath. It throbbed, red and sleek against the suds, eager for attention. Out of reflex, his hand drifted down to wrap around it. 

Why did Dax have to mention them skinny-dipping? It was bad enough to have the memory bouncing around his brain, but now he couldn't stop thinking about Daxter thinking about him naked. 

His paw pads brushed rough against his sensitive member. He squirmed, trying out different grips. Nothing felt right, though the silky caress of wet ottsel fur did dredge up a few more of his late-night fantasies. 

Before life could get any weirder he crawled out of the tub, cursed the door for lacking a lock, and climbed onto the sink. Ignoring his waggling member and wiggly body, he focused on just how to brush his teeth with a toothbrush that suddenly felt gigantic in his mouth. 

A tap at the door almost knocked him from the sink. He wobbled with a startled squeak, gripping the hand towel ring for support. 

A female voice bubbled from the other side. "Jak?"

"Umm..." He glanced at the door, but it stayed shut. Some people had more decorum than Daxter. "Yes?"

"It's Tess. Sounds like you're out of the tub." She hesitated a moment. "Right?" 

Fur still dripping, Jak wrapped the small towel around his waist and picked his way down to the step stool. His foot fur felt like wet socks as he padded to the door. After a quick peek down to make sure he wasn't peeking out, he turned the knob and peered out.

Tess stood, studying the wallpaper. Her paw held out a length of purple linen. 

He tilted his head to study it, then jumped a little as soaked ears flipped up to scatter droplets on his nose. "A cloth napkin?" 

"That." She nodded, eyes averted in the picture of ottsel innocence. "And also a toga."

"Thanks." Jak closed the door, but got the impression she had checked out his butt as she turned to leave.

\- // - // - // - // -

An hour later, the trio of ottsels waddled through downtown Haven City. 

Daxter led the pack as they wove between people's legs. "First thing you gotta learn about being an ottsel: ya see a lotta chins. You can learn a lot about people from their chins."

Jak stared at the passing throngs of citizens who gave them little more than a passing glance. "How is nobody staring at us?"

"Now yer gettin' paranoid, buddy-boy." The ottsel in pants turned to walk backwards. "Nobody ever stares at ottsels."

"I did." Tess smiled.

"You're special, angel-cheeks." He caressed the ruff of her cheek. "Everybody else thinks we're muses or wild animals."

“Well, sometimes you are...” She giggled. “But they’d have no way of knowing that.”

They arrived at Keira's workshop without undue mishap. The garage stood open, letting the breeze sweep through the oil- and eco-stained bay. Somewhere in the back, the occasional clank of metal on concrete and the steady clatter of a ratchet echoed. 

Closing his eyes with a sigh, Jak braced himself for the coming conversation. "Maybe it would be better if I went in alone."

"Ya sure?" Dax slipped a paw onto his shoulder. 

Before Jak could reply, Tess drew her lover back with a tilt of her head. She turned to the green-tinged ottsel. "We'll be right out here."

Gathering his courage, Jak padded inside. Behind a half-disassembled zoomer, he found Keira. Even in this time, hundreds of years from when they grew up, he could still see in her his old friend, as focused and grease-smudged as ever. Trying to keep his voice from cracking, he leaned against the front of the craft. “Hey, Keira...”

"What is it, Daxt—" Shock struck her like yellow eco, then melted away. "Okay, it's a wig or something. That's not funny."

The green-blonde ottsel shrugged. "Tell me about it."

"Jak? Seriously?" Her jaw dropped. Her ratchet hit the floor. "Oh, for the love of—! This is the last thing I need."

He crossed his arms. "Yeah, I really sympathize."

She leaned in and poked one of his ears. "How did this even happen?"

Reaching into his pack, he produced the rod of coppery Precursor metal and hopped up on his tip-toes to set it on her workbench. 

Her eyes widened further. "A Precursor staff?"

"Found it in the old Precursor city." He tried in vain to adjust the satchel so the bottom didn’t drag through the dirt. "Some surveyors uncovered a new complex."

"How’d you get it to zap you?" She reached to touch the device, face clearly displaying the unbridled mechanical curiosity she had always been known for.

The ottsel glanced up at her. "I think I hit some kind of hidden button."

Her hand froze a hair's breadth from its surface. "And you've just been handling it?" she asked incredulously.

"What's it gonna do? Turn me into more of an ottsel?"

"Okay…” Stepping back, Keira stroked her chin, leaving a small streak of oil. “I think I'll do a little research first."

“How long will that take?”

“I have no idea. But Daxter’s survived for years as an ottsel, so you should be fine.” She looked him over with a sigh. “You really should be more careful, Jak.”

At a defiant three feet of fluff, he looked up at her. "You act like it's my fault I'm an ottsel."

"It is your fault, Jak. Everyone else is just happy things aren't exploding anymore, but you had to find a wumpbee nest to poke." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Until this morning, my biggest worry was the spike in eco prices. Now I have to drop my current projects to help you."

Clearing his throat, he scraped a toe claw along the floor and rubbed the fur of his upper arm nervously. "So, does this, um..." He dropped his gaze to his hand and felt like a coward. "Does this change anything? With us?"

"Us?" Keira brushed a lock of hair from her face, nonplussed. She folded her arms down at him, hips cocked. "Jak, there's never really been an 'us.' There certainly won't be until we fix you.” As she retrieved her ratchet from the cold floor, her eyes swept over his diminished body with what could have been distain. “I don't date animals, remember? Frankly, I’m not sure who could."

Jak clenched his teeth at a spike of anger and mentally kicked himself for expecting life to give him any sort of break. “I’m best friends with a couple of those ‘animals,’ you know.”

“You know what I mean.” She ratcheted a bolt onto some armor plating. “Daxter may flirt with everything that moves, but he’s basically a big orange rat. That hasn’t changed any.”

"Sorry if repeatedly saving the world has some risks!" He hitched up his napkin toga and stomped for the door.

“What? What’d I say?” Keira’s voice echoed through the garage and the growing space between them. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the zoo. Let me know if you find anything." He threw his scarf and an icy glance over his shoulder. "If you can spare the time."

\- // - // - // - // -

Jak didn't have much to say on the walk home. Wisely, the other two agreed in silence not to press for details. As soon as they made it back to the Naughty Ottsel he retired to his sofa to be alone, leaving Dax and Tess in the bar with their thoughts.

The moment the door slammed upstairs, Tess turned to her lover. “He’s staying with us.”

“Well, yeah.” Atop the bar, Daxter concocted a drink for himself. He started with malt whiskey and added grape soda. He glugged it down, then lost all control of his face.

Rolling her eyes, Tess swizzled some Leberkleister into peach gin, splashed in cranberry, and handed it up to him.

His gloved hands grasped for it, then dumped half of it into his mouth. After some frantic gargles, he spat into the sink and leaned against the tap. With a lingering wince and a thankful wink, he swirled the second half of his drink. 

“I just feel sorry for him.” Climbing up from behind the bar, she shook her head. "Keira never could see past the end of her own wrench."

"I dunno why she even got with the guy if she'd not willing to invest." Daxter finished his drink with a frown. 

Tess’s lips gave a pondering pout. "Well, he is amazingly good looking… and saves the planet all the time."

"Hey! I save the planet too. And I've been said to have a certain sleek styling." He slid a paw down his supple form. 

"You do, sweetheart, but he has that little beard you just wanna scratch like a kitten's chin." She scritched under his chin for emphasis.

"Really?" Daxter crossed his arms and cocked his hips. "The tiny beard is what does it for you?"

"Second rule of being an ottsel, dear; when all you see are chins, you start developing preferences." She bounced and clutched her paws into tiny fists. "Besides, have you seen it since he got changed? It's the cutest thing ever! Is it too soon to say that? ‘Cause I just wanna scritch it."

\- // - // - // - // -

Night crept over the city walls. Jak crouched on the scarred, scuffed wood of Naughty Ottsel’s bar. His reflection in a half-empty shot of whiskey stared back at him: furry cheeks, ever-present goggles now comically large, worn red scarf big enough to use as a cloak. His tail curled around big back paws, forgotten until the next time he turned and tripped over it, or slammed it in a door, or sat on it. 

What use was a cast-off hero, barely three feet tall from five and a half? He could barely pick up the smallest of his guns anymore, let alone shoot it without flopping backward. He couldn't pilot a zoomer worth a damn or even reach the pedals of the Sand Shark. He could barely reach the handle on the refrigerator door.

Keira’s shocked, dismayed face wouldn’t leave his head. He hadn't seen or heard from her since their less-than-friendly conversation that morning.

Strangely, while it still hurt, her rejection hadn't surprised him like it should have. 

What did upset him was the irony. 

As teenagers, he'd had a huge crush on the redheaded human boy Daxter had been. After Dax got turned into an ottsel, though, they had spent every waking moment trying to get him changed back. Jak had never been good with words, so he had decided not to say anything that might make the situation worse. Plus, what would that relationship have even looked like? People joked about their close friendship, but ottsel bodies weren't exactly designed for sex with humans. He could get hurt. 

And over time, it had gotten easier not to bring it up. He had dismissed it as infatuation. They and Keira had been the only teenagers in their whole village, after all.

Now, years later, he was the right size, the right species, and Daxter seemed pretty happy with his new body. Jak couldn't say the same, not yet anyway, but a much bigger problem had arisen: Daxter already had someone else. Someone sweet, kind, witty, talented. Beautiful. Female. The guy finally had life going his way—he didn't need his best friend making things weird by confessing his love. 

Jak sighed. No use dwelling on what was not and could not be. He leaned forward and lapped delicately at the amber liquid in the shot glass, sensitive nose twitching at the sharp smell. He was too numb to bother with picking up the glass when it seemed large enough to be a regular sized tumbler in his small hand. Lost in thought and whiskey, he didn’t hear the soft tap of padded paws approaching. 

"I gotta tell ya, pal." A normally obnoxious voice caught his ear, now soft and almost teasing. "I know today’s been a doozy for ya, but just hear me out. Ya look good fuzzy. An' I'm not just sayin' that, either."

Jak's head jerked up, orange ears flying back as he quickly straightened up.

Wiry but surprisingly strong arms wrapped around him. Jak found himself drawn against a warm chest, Daxter's smiling face buried in his neck. 

"Dax…?"

"Shh, big guy." The other ottsel chuckled and patted his flank. "Lemme enjoy the fact that yer not towerin’ over me."

His ears fell further. Another miserable truth. "We're the same size now. I… I can't protect you anymore."

"Nah." Orange fur tickled Jak's nose as he was squeezed tight. Daxter might have even been taller than he was now, by a good few centimeters. "Now I get to protect you for a change. And this time, I got some help."

Then something even more startling; smaller, more delicate arms slipped around him from behind. Pale yellow hair pressed and mingled with his own darker gold and green as Jak found himself tucked between two warm bodies. 

Tess purred, rubbing a powder-puff cheek between the small hero's tense shoulder blades. "You'll stay with us, won't you, Jak?" She made eye contact with her boyfriend, then looked back to the green-blonde ottsel. "We've talked about it, and we totally insist."

“Yeah.” Dax bopped his best friend on the arm. “About time you moved in for real, instead of crashing a Jak-shaped hole on the couch.”

"Here at the Naughty Ottsel?" He blinked and considered the idea. "Sure. That would actually be nice." He had already usurped their upstairs sofa as his own several nights a week. What was the harm in taking them up on it full time, at least until he was able to find some solution to this newest catastrophe?

The couple dragged him out of his thoughts and upstairs; not to his sofa, as he had been expecting, but to the bedroom that had belonged to Tess and now belonged to them both. Behind their bedroom door, he found a jungle of fabric—Tess's sheets, the good towels, and a scattering of those tiny accent pillows. Together, it formed a sort of nest atop the bed. 

Jak chuckled. "I see you haven’t lost your pillow fort skills over the years."

“What can I say? It’s a gift.” Daxter sprung up onto the mattress. “One nobody can make fun of, since I’m not a human anymore.” 

Tess made her ‘isn’t he adorable?’ face and climbed up too. Together, they pulled Jak onto the bed.

They slipped under the sheet-wall and the hard city lights shifted to a soft glow through the fabric. He noticed an auxiliary nest between the bed and the corner, out of sight of the door. Perhaps best not to inquire about what went on there. Might spoil the moment. 

He settled into the basin of pillows, a bowl of noodley ottsels. Curled up along the warm bodies of his friends under a makeshift canopy, he decided life as an ottsel might have its merits. 

\- // - // - // - // -


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tess and Daxter decide how best to help Jak cope with his new ottsel body.

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 3  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

Note: This is set after Jak X.

~ ~ ~

Since his unwilling transformation, Jak had a hard time stomping. His new body, now roughly the same weight as one of his old boots, just didn’t have the mass required for a good stomp. But Jak, being Jak, still did his best. So when Daxter heard the tell-tale slam of the saloon’s back door and the subsequent ‘click-click-click-click’ of irritated claws on the hardwood, his hand stilled on a bottle mid-pour.

“Hey, Jakkie-boy.” He cast a glance over his shoulder. “You’re back early. How’d the powwow go?”

Unintelligible grumbling was the answer he got as Jak stalked by, below the level of the bar, ears back to their extreme.

“That bad, huh?” Daxter threw his rag into a basket of others destined for the laundry. He paced down the length of the shelf and easily made the hop to the end of the bar. “Gonna tell me what happened to make you all snarly, or do I get to spend the rest of the evening guessin’?” He lay down on the polished wood directly above where Jak had come to a stop and peered over the edge.

The green-blonde ottsel below pulled off his scarf, growling a little under his breath. “The whole thing was pointless. I never should have gone. I knew it was a bad idea. No one takes me seriously anymore!”

Daxter’s ears drooped. He had hoped his friend would feel better after Keira modified the jetboard for ottsel-sized feet, if he got the mobility back to resume some of his normal activities. But it seemed like Jak was still having trouble adjusting.

“Tattooed Wonder give ya trouble?” Daxter gave a sympathetic look, already knowing the answer.

“Who? Torn? The ass wouldn’t stop laughing.” Jak grumbled, folding his scarf down into a more manageable parcel. “We were trying to talk about the possibility of Jinx and his crew demolishing some of the worst areas of the remaining slums so they can call in contractors and start rebuilding. Get those people somewhere livable to call home. Clean up what’s left of the palace, turn it into something useful. Make the city better. And every time I started to say something, he started laughing.”

The ottsel on the bar slapped a palm over his eyes. Way to show support for a pal in a hard spot, Torn. “Well, what about Jinx? He didn’t laugh at ya, did he?”

“No.” Jak’s claws dug into the fabric he held, insult and exasperation clear in his voice. “He tried to pet me! ‘Don’t worry, Goldilocks, yer just as cute with a fur coat!’” He mocked the accent and wrung the scarf ball. “So I bit him.”

A deep groan slumped Daxter limp against the bar. “Of course ya did.” His ears perked as Jak began to skulk away. “Where’re you goin’?”

“To the roof to air out. My fur smells like Jinx’s cigars.” Jak trudged up the stairs and out of sight. A moment later, the roof door closed with a somehow dejected click. Better than the slam from earlier, but by a narrow margin.

Alone downstairs, the orange ottsel heaved a resigned sigh and spun a barstool with his toe. Jak never had it easy.

~ ~ ~

Tess pulled the laundry from the clothesline. As she struggled with the overlarge clothespins, she wondered how the Precursors dried their clothes. Tumble dryers seemed a little low-tech for a species that lived on spaceships. Then again, the pants they gave Daxter shed water and dirt like a lotus petal; maybe they never had to wash anything.

A green-tinged ottsel sulked upstairs and onto the roof. 

"Hey Jak!" She folded the last of the towels and placed it in the basket, then started hanging wet clothes out to dry. "You got some mail from the Gun Upgrade of the Month Club. I may have peeked through it already."

"Not like I can use any of it anyway." Sad blue eyes surveyed his delicate paws. "Why're you washing clothes up here? There's a laundromat just down the block." He jerked his thumb to the wide concrete building.

"Daxter refuses to use washing machines--he's afraid his clothes will end up wherever lost socks go." She pinned another dripping neoprene top to the line. "And he may have gotten thrown in with the delicates once."

A laugh burst through Jak’s doldrums. He crossed his arms over the napkin toga. "Dax never mentioned that."

"I had some pretty colorful undergarments as a human, so I didn't notice him in dozing on the hamper..." She offered a guilty shrug. "Poor little guy."

He fished another garment out of the pile and pinned it in place, lending a helping paw. "He was okay, though?"

"Being little and adorable doesn't mean we're not tough." She waved a pair of jean shorts at him. "I doubt the Precursors would've lasted this long if they were a bunch of fragile whiskered princesses. And Daxter tipped the balance of power in the Universe--with your help."

"Too bad nobody else sees this as world-saving material." He swept a paw down his slinky orange form. "Not used to getting laughed at. I don't like it."

She considering asking for details, but the slump of his shoulders made her change the topic. "My parents weren't sure what to think of my transformation, especially once it came out I was a god now. Then I had to clarify we're actually super-advanced aliens who built the planet." 

Jak shrugged at the opening to the ancient tunnels beneath the fallen palace. "Well, mostly built."

"Anyway, they already knew I was dating Daxter, so this wasn't the first bombshell I'd dropped." Tess grinned, whiskers fanning out cutely as she wrinkled her button nose. "Still get weird looks from some of my other relatives, but who cares? I'm dating the guy who saved the planet."

"Your parents must be pretty easygoing. I just had grumpy old Samos and an adopted uncle who fancied himself an adventurer."

"I guess it rubbed off on you." She giggled. "But yeah, my parents are pretty great. I learned everything I know from my family. Except how to be an ottsel, of course. It's too bad we're pretty much flying blind in that area--wish we'd thought to ask the Precursors more questions."

Jak shrugged philosophically. "They have to come back sometime. With you and Dax dating, they've basically started a colony here."

"A colony with fifty-percent population growth last week." She nuzzles between the hanging garments to smirk at him.

"Yeah, they'd be surprised about that.” Amusement at picturing their reactions was immediately countered by a much more sobering line of thought. “Assuming the world isn't a smoking crater when they get back."

"You put too much pressure on yourself, Jak. Let someone else worry once in a while."

With a groan, he closed his eyes. "That hasn't worked out for me in the past."

“Is it really the end of the world if people aren’t asking you to solve every problem the city has anymore?” She hung up the last of the garments: a rather dainty pair of briefs in sky-blue and gold.

"It is if the world starts ending again." The weight of his worries returned, slumping him down atop the square of fake sod Daxter had installed. He stared through the dangling undergarments with grim preoccupation. 

With a roll of her eyes, Tess tipped the wash water down a rain gutter and patted Jak on the shoulder. Only after securing a small smile from him did she pad back downstairs with the basket of fresh towels.

~ ~ ~

Daxter sat up on the bar and pondered. His best friend was upset. As always, as it had been since they were human kiddos knee high to a grasshopper, it was his duty to cheer Jak up. He had to do something to pull the other ottsel out of the funk he saw him settling into. But what?

He was still pondering a minute later when Tess wandered down, waddling slightly under the load of a small laundry basket stacked high with fresh bar rags. She always had a sexy waddle, the kind that swayed her tail just above the floor thanks to that firm butt.

“Hey, snookums!” She brightened at the sight of him. "Just left Jak on the roof. He seems a little down."

Obligingly, he scampered over to unlatch the bottom half of the stable door that allowed easy access behind the bar. “Yep. The hero has entered the building.”

Tess put her basket down and began to stack the clean rags in their place under the bar. “I wanted to ask him how the meeting went, but now didn't seem like the time.”

Daxter winced. “You might wanna think twice about askin’ that, angel-cheeks.” 

She dropped a rag back into the basket and looked up at him with mild concern. “Why? Did something happen? Renovating the poorer areas sounded like a great idea for the city.”

“Oh, you know. Nobody took the talking rodent’s input seriously, Torn laughed at him, and he bit Jinx for trying to pet him.” He rolled his eyes. “The usual.”

“Yeah, I heard about the laughing part. Poor Jak…” Tess frowned, thoughtfully refolding her rag. “I know how he feels. We know how he feels. There will always be people who don’t think we’re people. I just hope our friends adjust to him being an ottsel and start treating him normally before he really gets down on himself.” She looked back up at Daxter. “Do you think we should talk to him about biting, once he’s feeling better? That doesn’t exactly make a good case for ottsels as civilized, respectable citizens.”

Daxter had to grin. “No, but it does make an excellent case for Jakkie-boy bein’ a badass, no matter what shape he’s in!”

“You’re not helping.” Her tone scolded, but she couldn't suppress a smile.

Struck with sudden inspiration, Daxter grabbed a bottle of tequila off the shelf. “Maybe not. But I got an idea that just might. Do we have any of those cute little paper umbrellas left…?”

~ ~ ~

Half an hour later, Daxter tramped up the stairs with a tray of fruity drinks. It had been more years than he could remember since he had thought twice about barging in on Jak. Their friendship was like one of those big, sweaty saunas where everybody just lounged around naked scratching themselves; no need for formalities. So he was whistling happily when he kicked open the bathroom door a few minutes later, drink tray balanced precariously on one hand. “Oh, Jakkie-boy! I brought ya a little somethin’ somethin’ to perk ya up!”

It took a few moments, but a damp, green-spiked head finally peeked over the edge of the tub. “Is a little privacy really too much to ask?” Jak grumbled, ears back and an unconscious pout firmly in place.

Daxter sat the tray on the clothes hamper with a flourish. “It is when all you’re doin’ is sulking. Sulking doesn’t do anybody any good.”

The pout deepened. “I am not sulking.”

“Sure, you’re not sulking. You’ve just suddenly gone semi-aquatic for your health.” Unconcernedly, he dropped his pants to the tile floor.

A green eyebrow rose. “Tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing.”

“If you think I’m comin’ in, then I’m doin’ exactly what you think I’m doin’.” His tiny fists propped on wide hips. “A party for one is a lame, lame party, Jakkie-babe.” 

“There is no party! I’m trying to—”

“There are umbrella drinks, Jak.” Dax swept a paw at the multicolored beverages. “Your argument is invalid.” His smile gleamed with charm as he grabbed two of the aforementioned drinks. “Now, do you want a daiquiri or a margarita?” 

Jak gaped. His mouth opened, then closed, the green fuzz of his goatee dripping on the enamel. Then he laughed. It started out a startled chuckle, rumbling in his chest, and rose to an honest, continuous laugh as he slipped back below the edge of the tub.

Concerned, Daxter peeked over the side. “Jak? Are you drowning? Are you hysterical? Are you drowning and hysterical?”

The green-tinged ottsel had flopped limply against the back of the tub, shaking with laughter that rippled the water around him. “I have officially lost control of my life,” he panted out between gasps. His tail swished through mounds of bubbles in his mirth, further churning them to frothy foam.

Daxter grinned back. “Oh, is that all? That’s a relief. Here, take this drink; I need both hands to get in if you don’t want me fallin’ on ya.”

~ ~ ~

As Jak regained enough composure to stand back up and accept the drinks, a polite knock tapped at the door.

Tess’s head poked into view. “So, I heard there was a party in here?”

Jak froze in surprise, and for a moment Daxter was afraid that he would protest Tess’s involvement. But his hackles went down almost immediately as he took the umbrella-topped glasses. “Apparently this is the place to be.” He gave a chuckle of surrender.

The door opened further and Tess shimmied in, carrying a large bowl and wearing a small bikini. 

Jak stared. Somehow, her being clothed made him feel even more naked. 

Daxter let loose a long, low whistle. “Lookin’ good, Tessie-kins. I was wonderin’ when you’d wear that little number.”

She grinned and spun obligingly, showing off sleek curves encompassed by pink polyester. “I’m still holding out hope for a community pool when the citywide renovations are done. Ashelin has my list of requests.”

The greenish ottsel ticked through a list of questions but settled on: “Where did you even find a swimsuit your size?” 

“The little girls’ section, of course,” Tess giggled. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy. It took a while to find one that didn’t have cartoon characters on it.”

Ever the gentleottsel, Dax held Tess’s serving bowl as she slipped over the lip of the tub. Jak, still looking a bit flustered but now more used to being seen pants-less, watched from the bottom of the tub. Another pass of the bowl, a quick hop, and all three ottsels settled into the warm water.

Daxter stretched, toes curling against the warm enamel as his slinky length spanned the width of the tub. “Aaahh. This is the life. Lovely lady, best pal, tasty refreshments, and our own private hot tub. What could be better?”

Jak, reclining near the faucet, eyed the plastic bowl as it eddied by. “Are those grapes?”

“Mm-hmm!” Tess swiped a handful as they floated past. “We used to use pretzels, but grapes are waterproof and compliment the drinks.”

“This is a normal thing for you two, isn’t it?”

“Shh, Jak.” Daxter reached over and planted a damp hand over the green-tinged ottsel’s muzzle. “Shhhh. No more questions. Only umbrella drinks now.” He took a long sip of his piña colada, ears quivering in delight at the combined punch of alcohol and brain freeze. “Now that’s the stuff! Tessy, how doable ya think a grape colada smoothie is?”

Jak shook off the encumbering hand, rolled his eyes amiably, and, with a shrug of resignation, latched onto his own straw and sipped.

The female ottsel, meanwhile, replied only with a interested smile, as if curious to see where this would go.

~ ~ ~

An hour into the ottsel bath, the drink tray lay empty on the sink. The bath mat, however, boasted a small forest of empty stemware and wet paper umbrellas. The tub sat half-full of water and quite full of ottsels.

A pleasant buzz hummed through Tess's body as she engaged in general horseplay with the other ottsels. The tub squeaked under her paw pads. “Lurker shark!” She shrieked, scampering behind Jak with a splash of tub water and bubbles. “Save me, Jak!”

It was too late. Daxter eeled smoothly through the water, bright pink bikini bottoms dangling from his toothy, triumphant grin. “Grrr, baby.”

Jak sloshed with a woozy laugh, one hand over his eyes. “Dax, I realize you don’t have any modesty anymore, but Tess still might.” He wobbled, paws sliding apart under the water on slick bathtub enamel. “Guys, I… I think I might be a little drunk.”

The female ottsel covered herself with one hand as she tried to snatch the garment back with the other. “Less height means less body mass, so you get drunk on less booze.”

“Ugh…” He sat down through a pile of bubbles. “That makes sense.”

The shorter ottsel crossed his dripping arms. “Anything’d make sense to you right about now, Jak-o.”

Tess ducked out of her bikini top. “I guess there’s not much point in wearing this anymore...” She stretched it and shot it at her boyfriend. The streak of pink glanced off the rim of the tub and sailed away. 

Ears dropping, Jak blushed. 

"Don't worry, Jak; we're all fuzzy here.” Water dribbled off Daxter’s pelt as he stood. He patted his buddy on the shoulder with the bikini bottoms. “No need to be shy." 

Eye-level with his best friend’s junk, the green-tinged ottsel looked everywhere but sideways. “I-I guess...”

Dax swept a grandiose gesture. “I declare this bathtub an ottsel nudity preserve!” The momentum of his sweep threw off already questionable balance, toppling him into Jak’s lap.

Ears flicked even lower, Jak tried to help his friend up. 

The shorter ottsel snaked around and put him in a headlock. “Gotcha now!”

“Hey!” Jak fumbled at prying his ambusher’s arms loose, then failed at ducking free. 

Dax rode out his friend’s efforts. “Ya know, I bet I’m more than a match for Jak now that he’s lost his hundred-pound advantage.”

The boys rolled around, tails and paws flying everywhere. Jak, despite his best efforts, was flung around like a wet towel, having no idea how to get leverage with his lithe new body. 

With a giggle, Tess tackled both and pinned them to the floor of the tub, face-down. She grinned at their stunned, squirming forms, their eartips peeking above the bubbles like periscopes. “Guess I win.”

Daxter squirmed up to dunk her in return. "You may be gorgeous, but you're not gettin' away with that! Rawr!"

They tumbled back, giggling, and bumped the shampoo caddy. Bottles clattered on a shelf above. With a plastic clatter, one tipped to glop thick pink ooze on Jak’s exposed back. 

“Ugh!” The slimed mustelid rolled over, only spreading the soap to his exposed stomach fur. He tried to shake the goo off his paws, to no avail. “What the heck?” 

The blonde ottsel just shook her head. “It’s just bubble-bath. C’mon.” She dragged him under the faucet and turned it on. 

There was an attempt at objection, but it came out as a gargle as the water rushed over Jak. 

The ottsel couple scritched the soap out of his fur. As they itched their way through his pelt, he fought a losing battle against his foot-thump reflex.

Jak laughed, teetering between pleasure and tickles. Another reflex, less acceptable for public display, poked pink from his sheath. “Guys! Quit it! C'mon...”

Daxter slipped into drunken nuzzles against his friend's neck. Water coursed over them both, beading off their waterproof pelts. 

Giggling too, the greenish ottsel offered only feigned resistance, eyes half closed, ears relaxed. He didn't seem to notice an orange paw drifting lower and lower down his stomach. 

Tess's heartbeat sped as she watched her boyfriend put the moves on their best friend. Cold nerves battled the heat radiating from her crotch. While seeing him loosened up had been the plan, she didn't want them to be a source of hung-over regret the next morning. A little caution might be called for. 

Dax flashed her a broad grin, to which she replied with a cautioning look. A small pout tinged his drunken revelry, but he did deign to stop tickling Jak.

Her cautions aside, she couldn’t say she blamed him. Seeing Jak enjoying himself under her paws left her a little hot under the fur too. She shook her head with a fond sigh. “Maybe we should move the party to dry ground, boys.” It wasn’t likely that an ottsel, no matter how inebriated, would drown in six inches of bathwater, but she knew enough of their misadventures that tempting fate seemed unwise.

Still a little giddy, Jak stood, unaware of his lingering half-erection, and leaned against the wall of the bath. “Yeah, probably a good idea.” 

As they pulled the plug and abandoned tub, Tess scooped up the paper umbrellas and tossed them in the trash. Daxter could be a sweetheart, but he had a blind spot for litter.

Climbing over the edge of the bath, Jak tried to sound serious, but couldn’t stop smiling. “That was actually pretty fun, guys. Thanks.”

Dripping on the bathmat, Dax grabbed some hand towels and smirked up at him. “Sure, bud.”

Tess’s mouth, without permission, added, “I’m happy to roll around naked with you two any time.”

With a startled squeak, Jak fell from the lip of the tub. He landed on the bath mat with a graceful squelch. A moment later he had burritoed himself in a towel with a frantic harrumph. “I— Uh— I think I need some sleep!” He saw himself out and padded quickly down the hall in a heroic retreat. 

As Daxter snickered, Tess clapped a paw to her headband, which she’d forgotten to take off. “Remind me to remember how shy that boy can be.”

Toweling off, they followed, just to see that he didn’t fall out a window or something.

Though he couldn’t quite make the trek in a straight line, Jak managed to climb into the bed the three of them now shared six nights out of seven. Tired and boozed up as he was, the newest ottsel addition seemed to conk out before his damp ears hit the pillow.

The couple watched from the doorway with satisfaction. 

Dax snickered. "Aww, he's like a little drunken angel."

Tail tracing the floorboards, Tess leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You should apologize for trying to fondle your drunk friend right in front of me."

He crossed his arms as she shut the door. "I might, if I'd been the only one fondling, and if I couldn't smell how much you liked it."

Leaving Jak to his slumber, they crept away. While it was a real joy to have Jak around on a permanent basis, times alone had become few and far between. With the hero down for the count, they had a perfect excuse to weasel away for a few stolen moments.

Tess, tipsy but not quite tired, smoothed her boyfriend’s damp fur as they padded into her drawing room. “It was adorable how Jak refused to sneak a peek.”

Daxter staggered a little, leaning on her. “A compunction I never had, babe.”

She smirked in the dim room. “Daxxy-poo, I never would’ve guessed.”

“Sure! I’ve showered with the guy plenty of times, when we’re crunched for time and hot water. Ottsels take up very little shower space.” His orange paws hovered inches apart. “And lemme tell you: Jak’s quite the guy to look up to.” He grinned, spreading his paws further. “I’ve gotten more than an eyeful.” 

“You’re lucky you didn’t get an eyeful of soap.” She elbowed her lover. “You would’ve deserved it.”

“Not like I was polishing the ol' ottsel blaster in front of him or anything. Not that Jak ever looked down to see. But I snuck a peek or two... ” Flopping backward onto the battered cushion, he smirked up at her.“...every time.”

“Oh Daxter, you’re a scoundrel.” She slunk atop his slinky orange form, nose to nose. 

“You know it, babe.” Quick kisses bubbled between them. 

Her paw curled around his sheath, stroking supple skin over stiffening shaft. “Mmmmm… Someone’s turned on. All this from rolling around in the bath with Jak?” 

He made a tiny grunt of affirmation. His shaft thickened in her paw, poking into the night air, a hairsbreadth from her slit. 

“I can’t say I minded… Ohhh, that feels good.” She brushed his tip along her tender folds, still wet from the bath. “Wanna be in me?”

He nuzzled close and nibbled her whiskers. His cock throbbed larger with each heartbeat, teasing hot, slick flesh. "Do ya want me in you?"

A pleasured breath eased from her muzzle. "Mmmhmm..."

Her lover gave a soft grunt as his hardness pressed to her. “Oh yeah...” With the slightest roll of his hips, the sleek head of his cock pressed to her entrance. 

Her hips rocked as she sunk down on him. That hot girth slipped into her, so much larger than that first time. Well, to be exact, she’d shrunk. Either way, he felt amazing inside her. Eagerness bounced her along his length.

Daxter bucked up into her. His delicate orbs bounced against the base of her tail. His own tail thumped the floorboards, adding just a little more power to his thrusts.

Her fuzzy fingertips rubbed her clit against his stiffness, stroking the hood back and forth. Tension built within her, gathering with delightful tension around that thrusting cock. With a giddy giggle, she squeezed him hard, bouncing harder.

Gasping her name, he grabbed her hips and thrust with urgent fervor. Pulse after pulse of ottsel seed spurted along her walls. Every surge of heat painted her with pleasure. 

Fingers trembling on her clit, Tess shuddered above her lover. Slick juices soaked their crotch fur. Under her, Daxter twitched as the final spurts of his orgasm seeped warm against her walls. Moonlight and streetlights shone silver through the window, swathing them in their afterglow.

Since becoming an ottsel, she seemed to come really easily. She wondered if all ottsels worked that way, or if she still wasn’t used to the sensations of this new body. With a lovely, lingering slide, she pulled off him and rolled to his side.

Daxter flopped down, sticky and panting on the bean bag chair beside her. His shaft shone in the dim light, their passion reflected in the streetlight through the window. 

Catching her breath, she ran a paw through his chest fluff to feel his heartbeat. “Mmmm. Somebody was a little riled up from bath time. I should make sure you see Jak naked more often.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s nice havin’ the guy around all the time, but sex sure would be easier if we didn't have to go sneakin’ around.”

"It's good to keep an eye on him." She patted his arm. "Turning into an ottsel can be tough."

Daxter groaned and scooted off the wet spot they'd left on the fabric. "That, and we need to make sure he doesn't try to do anything that will blatantly, obviously get himself killed because he's a stubborn jerk."

“I worry about him too.” She brushed a lock of hair back. “It was good to see him laugh.” 

“Yeah, I haven’t seen him that happy in a while.” 

She rolled leisurely beside him. The cool of evaporation felt wonderful after their frantic lovemaking. While she liked her new body overall, she sometimes missed having her whole body sweat, instead of just her paw pads. “It’s a big change, turning into an ottsel.” 

He leaned back on the cushion, hands behind his head. “I handled it quite well.”

“Jak told me how you freaked out, sweetums.” Her paw patted his stomach. “Not that I blame you. You were the first one, after all. At least I had you to show me how fun being an ottsel can be.”

A moment passed in silence between them.

“You want to show him how fun it can be too, don’t you?”

He blinked at her, furry face radiating faux-innocence. “Isn’t that what we just did?”

Her eyes narrowed playfully. “You know what I mean.”

“Only if you want to, babe.” He shrugged, breaking eye contact to glance away almost bashfully. “Like I said, I had a thing for the guy when we were teenagers and that hasn’t exactly gone away. Doubt it ever will.”

“Oh, so it’s my choice?”

“Lemme put it this way: I already got a best friend who’d risk his neck for me in a heartbeat and a sexy girlfriend I adore. Why would I screw with that unless we’re sure about it?”

Snuggling closer, she giggled into his shoulder. “I don’t know if the ladies of Haven City would forgive me for snapping up two hunky gentlemen.”

He counter-snuggled, curling his tail over hers. “Nobody’s called dibs on the guy, that much we know for sure. I’d say he’s fair game.”

“He is sweet.” An image struck Tess of an ottsel clinging in a tree like a ripe mango.

Almost whisker to whisker, Daxter searched her face; oddly serious, for him. “If we really go through with this thing, you’re sure it wouldn’t mess up what me and you have?”

“Well, if you think about it, Jak’s basically always been in our relationship. You and he are so close it’s always seemed natural to me.” She nuzzled his nose. “This isn't going to change things between us, snookums. At least not for the worse. Think he’d be up for it?”

His huge grin was much more like the Daxter she knew and adored. “Never known my man Jak to turn down adventure. And yer my biggest adventure of all.”

“Flatterer...” With lingering friskiness, she nibbled at his ear. “So how would we even do this?”

In conspiratorial tones, they giggled up plans of how to break it to Jak that he was about to be plucked.

~ ~ ~

Text: SillynekoRobin & Tempo  
Art: Slate

This one's out a little late, but the next chapter's coming out on Sunday. ^_^ Let me know what you think!

~Tempo


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Jak regrets his poor life choices, a new threat comes to light. Fortunately, his fellow ottsels cheer him up.

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 4  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

_As Jak regrets his poor life choices, a new threat comes to light. Fortunately, his fellow ottsels cheer him up._  
Note: This is set after Jak X.

~ ~ ~

The rhythmic bounce of the mattress under him shook Jak from a dreamless sleep. Groggy and more than a little drunk, he rolled over to see two slinky forms entwined on the bed beside him. Their sinuous bodies, silhouetted against the glow of a city at night, rose and fell together. Thick tails rubbed together, flexing with each thrust. Desperate, delicate ottsel paws clutched at tousled fur.

He closed his eyes, knowing he shouldn't look. Still, by virtue of his ottsel ears, he could hear everything. Gasped pleasure and moaned entreatments stirred the silence of the bedroom. Just an arm's length away, the wet whisper of penetration telegraphed their passion.

Jak shook his head. His inebriated mind decreed that it must be a dream and that he should just go back to sleep. Having no better ideas, he rolled over and watched the shadows dance on his wall. That didn't really count as watching, right?

His erection begged to differ. It begged for something else too, but Jak buried his hands under the pillow. If he could feel them shaking the bed, they'd certainly feel him.

After a few minutes and cries of trembling climax, the room quieted to hurried panting, then to the easy breaths of sleep. 

Left with no evidence, Jak consoled himself it must have been his drunken imaginings. Horny drunken imaginings. He almost believed it. Snuggling his face deep into the pillow, he slid back into a hazy slumber.

~ ~ ~

The sounds of a busy bar woke Jak late the next morning. With a yawn and a stretch, he crawled to awareness and wished immediately that he hadn't. There was nothing ottsel-sized about his hangover.

Blearily licking dry lips, he sat up on the pillow he'd passed out on the night before. Though he found himself alone in bed, rumpled indents in the blankets nearby attested to the company he'd had overnight. He rarely slept on his sofa anymore; one or both of his friends usually came to collect him, claiming it wasn't natural for ottsels to sleep alone. Easier to just hop in bed with them in the first place.

Plus, not that he would admit it, he enjoyed being able to share their sleeping space. The bed was warm, soft, and smelled like his friends; what more could he ask for?

Sighing, Jak gave a last stretch for good measure and began the arduous process of squirming his way to the floor, half-consciously rubbing his fur along the Tess-and-Daxter-scented sheets as he did so. There was something very right about smelling like his friends—so right that the hero had decided to stop fighting the strange impulse. At least for as long as he was an ottsel, anyway.

He couldn't help a deep inhale at his own fur. For some reason, the sheets smelled particularly good this morning. Maybe Tess was using new fabric softener.

Once his feet finally found the rug, the upstairs bathroom was the first stop. A long drink and an ottsel-sized dose of aspirin helped jumpstart the process of feeling normal again. He'd have to keep better track of his alcohol consumption with this new body, if the night before was anything to go by.

Finished in the bathroom, Jak shrugged into his dish towel toga and descended the stairs with groggy caution. 

The Naughty Ottsel buzzed with activity, as it did every morning that they opened for lunch. He still wasn't used to crowds, but the regular patrons seemed like decent sorts. Since Krew's ousting and the bar's ownership passing into furrier, friendlier hands, the clientele had also changed for the better.

"Ordering! We need a barbeque burger and a basket of onion rings, please!" Tess called back to the small kitchen.

She'd put two of their part-timers in charge of dishing up the menu's modest but tasty assortment of burgers, sandwiches, and deep fried snacks. Others waited tables on the floor area. Except in very special circumstances, the bar itself remained the ottsel couple's domain.

Jak smiled as he hopped gingerly onto a stool at the end of the bar, unobtrusively out of the way.

Tess spied him immediately. "Good morning, Jak," she chirped, trotting over. She had long since instated a 'no paws on the bar during business hours' mandate, so the tops of her ears bounced along at the level of the countertop until she came to the stool closest to where he sat and popped back up again. "How are you feeling? Can I put you in an order for breakfast?" She glanced at the clock. "Ah, lunch?"

His stomach rolled in protest. "No thanks, Tess. I'm still a little green around the gills."

Down the bar, Daxter looked up from the shot he was pouring to laugh. "Green around the everything, ya mean! Lookin' kinda rough today, Jakkie-boy."

"I'm blaming you for this." Jak laid back his ears. "You're the one who kept handing me margaritas without warning me about the body size to liquor ratio."

With a kind chuckle, Tess reached out to comb his hair back into place. 

Her nails felt good along his scalp, so Jak let his ears fall and allowed the attention. "If I ever try to have a repeat of last night, you have permission to smack me."

She smiled, patting his head gently. "Duly noted."

The bell over the door chimed, causing all three ottsels looked up in unison.

"Taryn!" Daxter exclaimed with delight, tail thumping the side of the stool he stood on. "What's shakin', toots? It's been too long."

The tall, busty woman rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she made her way to the bar, purple ponytail swaying behind her. "It's been three weeks, Daxter."

Tess abandoned her stool for one closer to the other woman. "Is it mani-pedi time again already? Not a moment too soon! Can I get you a drink or maybe a snack?"

As Tess and Taryn gravitated together and began a conversation that seemed to include salons and guns in equal measure, Daxter passed out the round of drinks he'd been concocting. Hopping down from his perch, he waddled from behind the bar to join Jak.

"You haven't met Taryn yet, have ya pal?"

The green-tinged ottsel shook his head. Of course he had heard about the friends who had helped Daxter during his quest to find out where Jak was being held prisoner, but their relentless adventures since then had put introductions on the back burner. 

He studied the newcomer with a critical eye. "She seems… capable."

Daxter grinned. "That's putting it mildly. When I met her she was pretending to be an exterminator supplier, but what she was really supplying was a ton of weapons for the resistance. She and Tessie can gab about guns for hours. It's great when the ladies in your life get along so well." He reached up to grab Jak's wrist and tug him off his stool. "Come on, I'll introduce ya. She probably thinks you're a figment of my imagination by now."

Jak, still bleary, sighed. "After the week I've had, I'm starting to think that, too."

Taryn glanced down as the two ottsels approached, dodging the occasional pair of legs. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of an as yet unknown mustelid. "And who is this?"

Daxter stood to his full three feet, fluffing proudly. "Taryn, babe, it gives me great pleasure to finally introduce my main man, Jak; best pal in the universe and esteemed sidekick. You may have heard his name mentioned briefly in the grand tales of my adventures." He threw an enthusiastic arm around Jak's shoulders, drawing him closer. "Say hi, Jak-o! Don't be bashful."

"Niff to mee oo," Jak managed, mouth muffled by his friend's fluff. He popped his head above the encircling arm and gasped a breath. "Uh, nice to meet you. Thanks for helping Dax out so much. And for putting up with him."

"Hey!" The shorter ottsel bounced at the impudence. "That's it, impertinent sidekicks get noogies."

Taryn's surprise gleamed brighter than the red lipstick on her face. She watched the resulting tussle with fascination. "You're… you're very welcome. I've heard about you —who hasn't heard about _the_ Jak, really?— but I suppose I never realized that you're… that you're a… also an ottsel. I could swear I've seen a wanted poster with you on it, minus the fur."

Tess giggled as Jak finally succeeded in pinning Daxter against the side of the bar with an audible thump. "It's a handsome mug shot either way." She shot the hero a playful wink.

Jak flushed under his fur, nose and ears heating. Just like her boyfriend, Tess had long since mastered casual flirting. She loved getting a rise out of him—and it worked. He pulled his toga a little tighter. "Uh, yeah. The, um, fur is a recent development. A friend of ours is working on fixing the problem. Right Dax?"

Nose buried in the juncture of Jak's neck and shoulder, Daxter didn't answer. Instead, he breathed into his thick yellow fur.

"Uh, Dax?" Jak was suddenly worried. He didn't think he had tackled his buddy into the wall so hard, but he was still getting used to his new ottsel body. Maybe he'd been rougher than he'd thought? He elbowed Daxter gently, jostling the arm still clutched around him.

The other ottsel snapped to attention with a blink. "Wha?"

Tess peered down at them, ears perked with curiosity. "Sweetie, is everything okay?"

"Oh, sure, sure! Hunky-dory, no problems here." Daxter gave Jak a hard pat on the back and finally moved away, squirming out from between the greener ottsel and the woodwork. "So, Taryn! What brings you here during the lunch rush? Not that I'm complainin', but toenail talk's usually reserved for after hours."

Jak flicked an ear at the abrupt topic change. That was weird. But, then again, Daxter and odd behavior weren't exactly strangers.

Taryn glided into the conversation. "Well, since you ask, Ximon would like for you to get in touch with him about a job. This afternoon, if you could manage it. It sounds rather urgent."

Jak looked at his friend, ears periscoping in interest. "A job?"

Daxter cocked a hip smugly. "Yeah, Jakkie-boy, a job. I, unlike some people, have a couple steady ones. I only go bug bustin' for people I like, though." He rubbed the fur of his chin contemplatively. "Urgent, huh? Creepy-crawlies harshin' his mellow?"

"Yes. He was adamant that you be contacted about it." The human frowned thoughtfully. "And from what he told me, the problem might not be simply bugs."

Tess paused in the act of loading a tray with glasses, an empty mug in each hand. "What do you mean, not just bugs?"

Taryn leaned closer over the bar, expression growing serious. "That's what I'm still in the process of finding out. I don't want to alarm anyone, but…" Surreptitiously, she glanced around to make sure no eaves were being dropped. "There are rumors in the slums that the metal heads are making a resurgence. If that's true, metal bugs may just be the first wave."

Jak's screech of anger and disbelief echoed around the bar, surprising everyone including himself. A waitress walking by behind them fumbled and dropped a plate in shock. Over the tinkle of broken glass, he forced down chattering rage to articulate properly. 

"That's impossible!" His whole body tensed, hackles up and ears back. "We crushed the metal heads after we reclaimed the city. Even they're not stupid enough to come back." His tail lashed in agitation, frizzed huge as each hair stood on end. "Nothing like that would get past Ashelin and Torn anyway—they'd have to know that something's up. They would have told me!"

Daxter gingerly patted him on the shoulder, looking more apprehensive at his friend's anger than the threat of their enemies' possible return. "Of course they woulda, pal. You know the Tattooed Wonder, though. He'd make sure everything stayed under wraps until they knew for sure if somethin' was even wrong."

"That's right." Quickly climbing down the bar, Tess set a paw on his other shoulder, her tone one of reassurance. "News like that would cause a citywide panic. Of course they wouldn't want to worry anyone without cause. Especially you, Jak. You have enough on your plate right now; I'm sure our friends wouldn't want to burden you with something else to stress about."

Apparently satisfied that no one had picked up on the conversation going on around her knees, Taryn stopped glaring people out of hearing range. "I suppose that could be true. No need to have the local hero up in arms until there's concrete evidence." She looked Jak up and down somewhat skeptically. "But then again, I suppose they could have passed you off as being unable to do anything about a threat like that now."

Despite himself, Jak wilted. That was exactly what he'd been afraid of.

"Not that it's true!" Taryn rushed to amend at Tess's scathing frown. "I'll admit I didn't think much of Daxter's capabilities when we first met, and look at what he was able to accomplish."

"Yeah, what she said! And remember, you're my sidekick. Any sidekick of mine has to be amazing!" Looking marginally less afraid of being bitten, Daxter slipped his arm back around his friend's shoulders. "So ease up, buddy. No need to go on a fluffin' rampage. We'll figure this out."

Though his tail still twitched angrily without his conscious permission, Jak's hackles began to settle. Unfortunately the same could not be said of the pounding in his head; high blood pressure had a time and place, something his hangover took the opportunity to rudely remind him of. He whined under his breath, palms rubbing ineffectually at his eyes. Just when he thought life couldn't get any more complicated. "Oww…"

Tess and Daxter exchanged a pointed look. 

"Shall I tell Ximon you'll take the job, then?" Taryn asked.

Daxter nodded decisively. "I'll be ready in ten." He leaned forward to land a quick peck on Tess's fluffy cheek. "Hold down the fort for me, sweet-cheeks?"

She returned the kiss with a smile. "You know I will. Be careful."

Jak straightened up and rolled his shoulders, putting on his Hero Face. "We will be, don't worry."

The couple swapped another look. Tess subtly shook her head.

"Oh boy." Daxter scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Um. I don't know how to break this to ya, Jakkie-boy, but… I think this oughta be a solo mission, if you know what I mean."

The greener ottsel blinked at him, uncomprehending. 

"I'm headin' out to spray flammable poison, pal." He made a flamethrower gesture. "Let's just say you look like you've got enough poison in your system for one day."

Jak's ears fell. "But I'm fine. I've gone on plenty of missions in a lot worse shape than this."

"Don't remind me!" His friend cocked a hip and raised a finger. "One: you look like you got decked by a prize-fighting lurker. You're very obviously not fine, so don't even try the line." A second orange finger flicked up. "Two: just because you're _able_ to push yourself into extreme situations when you feel like a sack of crap, doesn't mean you _have_ to. Things aren't that serious yet."

"But—"

"No buts, pal. Stay here with Tessie and recoup. Remember, this is just recon. I'll be back in a couple hours with more intel. If Ximon's just dealing with some really ugly roaches, great. If there's more to it than that, then… well, then the Daxternator an' his trusty sidekick can work out a battle plan together."

Taryn glanced down at Jak and let slip a small, teasing smirk. "And perhaps in the meantime you can find something a bit more intimidating than a toga for your sidekick costume." Before he could protest, she was off her stool and back to business. "I'll call Ximon and let him know we're on our way. Daxter, meet me outside in ten minutes or find your own ride."

Orange Lightning offered a smart salute. "You got it, toots!"

Tess likewise sprang into action. "Let me grab you a bite for the road, Taryn. I know you forget to eat when you're fixated." She grabbed an order pad and began to scribble. "While you two are gone I'll get in touch with the girls at Freedom League headquarters—they might have some useful information to leak to a gal pal in need."

"Great idea, Tessie-kins. Use those networking skills." With double pistols and a wink to his girl, Daxter turned tail and scampered for the storage closet that held his exterminator gear. "Hang tight, Jak-o! I'll be back before ya know it."

All at once, Jak found himself alone at the bar, pounding head bouncing back and forth as he tried in vain to watch three people go in three separate directions.

For the first time in memory an important mission was underway, and the hero had been left behind.

~ ~ ~

The door closed. Jak cradled his head. "I thought ottsels didn't get hangovers."

Tess wiped down the bar as the last few patrons left, the lunch rush over. "Daxter doesn't get hangovers. I didn't get sloshed in the tub last night. You, on the other paw..."

"Don't remind me." He sunk lower and lower, until his nose pressed to the cool of the countertop. "Glad someone can be a hero, because it sure isn't me right now."

She patted his shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

His hand unrolled onto the bar. "Daxter's out fighting metal bugs alone."

"He's fought them before."

"Yeah, he got pretty capable when I wasn't looking."

She shrugged. "So let him be the hero."

"He is a hero. Without him, I'd have gone crazy years ago. And still be in prison. And dead." Eyes closed, he sighed and deflated a little more. "I'm the one who's been freeloading."

"Since the world stopped ending?" Leaning over the bar, she wrapped him up in a hug. "I think that's understandable."

He patted her arm and smiled a little. Finally some progress; at least he didn't look like an abandoned pet crocadog anymore, complete with big, sad eyes.

A shrug rippled from her shoulders down her body. "And really, how full of himself do you think Daxter is?"

His ears rose a few degrees. "Pretty full."

"Well, yes. It comes naturally to him." She crossed her arms. "I think it's his way of lightening the mood. He's a teeny-weeny little fuzzball bragging about saving the world. Something about it makes you laugh, so he doesn't care who else it annoys."

His eyebrows rose.

"I've had lots of time to think on it." She waved the topic off with a flick of her bar towel. "Let's keep this between us. Dax's ego will quintuple in size when he realizes that you see him as a hero too."

He chuckled in spite of himself. "You're probably right."

"Come help me clean up the kitchen." With a tilt of her head, she drew him from the barstool. "We'll figure out something for you to eat too; can't have our hunky new sofa-surfer wasting away."

~ ~ ~

An hour later, Jak stared out the window. Where the heck was Daxter?

Tess sidled over to rest a paw on his shoulder. "My famous hash browns didn't recharge you?"

"Huh? Oh." He glanced down at the few shreds of fried rutato on his plate. "Guess I'm still not at one hundred percent."

"In that case..." Hopping up onto the sofa, she patted the cushion next to her. "Let me introduce you to the wonder of grooming."

~ ~ ~

Jak leaned into Tess without thinking, looking up at the curvy female through lidded eyes. He lay on his back, the front half of his body in her lap. He'd resisted at first, but after the first few minutes let her undo the top of his toga for easier grooming.

She hummed as she stroked the brush through his fur, her face a picture of tender concentration as she smoothed away the tension that had been winding his shoulders. His eyes drifted shut listening to her croon a soft, wordless tune, and he mused how Daxter was one lucky guy. It would be real, real easy to fall in love with a girl like Tess.

He did his best to relax like she'd told him to, though still fighting the alien rumble of a purr that tried to rise in his throat. Tess caressed the tines of the brush through his fur with expert ease, hitting all sorts of little hidden places that made him shiver. This was really something else. No wonder Dax liked being petted. He inhaled deeply, narrow chest expanding against the brush. Somehow she smelled as good as she looked. Had she always smelled this good? For all the times she'd ridden on his shoulder, he couldn't recall feeling so content, so titillated.

"Well, I see someone's enjoying himself."

Jak blinked out of his torpor, trying to parse what Tess had said. He got his answer when he made to roll to his side and felt the drag of rough cloth against the bare flesh of his erection. Eyes shooting open, tension flooding back in an instant, he flailed to stand only to be stopped by a dainty paw on his breastbone.

"Sweetie, calm down. Relax. It's perfectly natural." She caressed his chest for a little bit, feeling his heartbeat hammer. "I take it as a compliment, really. Heck, that kind of reaction is half the reason I do this for Daxxie." She favored him with a wink.

He stared down at his tented toga in mortification, willing it to vanish as he tried not to read too much into her comment.

"Here, you can do me." With a quick shrug, she ducked out of her top.

His scruff fluffed in panic. "What?!"

"What?" She laid down. "I just want you to return the favor." One orange paw rose to offer him the brush. "It's only fair, right?"

He should really say no. He should make a polite, reasonable point about her being his best friend's girlfriend. He stood up to brush her. 

The front door swung open, admitting a singed and ruffled Daxter.

Jak froze where he stood. His gaze shot to the half-naked female at his feet, then back to Dax. "I swear it's not what it looks like!" 

His toga fell to his ankles.

Daxter cocked an eyebrow, then extinguished a smoldering whisker. "Whatever it looks like, I'll take some of it." He shrugged exhaustedly out of his sprayer pack and padded over. 

The green-tinged ottsel snatched the fallen napkin back around himself, nose and ear tips flushing furiously. 

Daxter eeled up onto the couch beside his girlfriend. "First off: we're gonna need more sprayer guns."

Tess turned her head his way, eyes darkening in concern at his rumpled and smokey state. "Bugs?"

"Bugs." He flopped flat on his back, paws spread wide above him. "Lots of 'em. Big, big bugs."

Again suitable for mixed company, Jak cleared his throat and secured the treacherous garment.

"So there I was, tail-deep in insect goo and down to my last swatter battery." The orange ottsel's voice swelled to match his ego. "Metal bugs to my left, metal bugs to my right—I blasted 'em as fast as they came at me. Dozens, no, hundreds of the creepy crawlies."

"Then what?" Normally, Jak knew better than to encourage the short ottsel's tall tales, but the more his friend bragged and generally behaved as normal, the more he could be sure that Daxter had avoided serious injury on his solo mission. Besides, he wanted to ensure the conversation didn't drift to his sudden and recent nudity

"Then I melted more carapaces." He made little shooting gestures with his hands. "Blast-blast here, blast-blast there, here a splat, there a splat, everywhere a splat-splat—"

Tess had apparently come to the same conclusion that Daxter was more or less unharmed. Looking much less worried, she propped her chin up with one arm, taking the brush from Jak and putting it to use with the other. "So they're all dead?"

"You kidding? I used the last of my sprayer juice to rocket outta there." He aimed the imaginary gun down and pulled the trigger. "I barely scratched the surface."

A serious threat. Mounting danger. Potential of messy death. Despite himself, Jak's ears perked. "So, does that mean…?"

His friend grinned up at him. "Yep. Looks like I'm gonna need my sidekick after all!"

~ ~ ~

We hope you enjoyed another episode of Ottsel Cuddle Theatre. Tune in next time for more fuzzy orange action.

Lines: Zetht  
Colors/Cleanup: Tempo321  
Edits: Slate  
Words: Tempo321 & SillynekoRobin

I’m actually super proud of cleaning up that art. ^_^

~Tempo


	6. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jak gets closer to his fellow ottsels, oblivious the little fuzzballs are conspiring to seduce him.

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 5  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

Note: This is set after Jak X.

~ ~ ~

"I think you should know: I find your enthusiasm about this disturbing."

Jak just flashed a wolfish grin. He paced back and forth along the floor in front of the bar, gung-ho and ready to go. The fur along his spine stood on end in a neat, prickly row, attesting to how amped he was at the prospect of looming battle.

"Well, you can just hold yer leapers, pal." Daxter stroked a paw down Jak's back to smooth his hackles. "We're not goin' back in there yet." He folded his pants over his arm decisively. "There's nothin' useful we can do until Taryn hooks us up with some more bug spray, and Tessie's not done upgrading the sprayer pack yet." A small black nose wrinkled in distaste. "Plus, I'm not goin' nowhere without a shower first. And my pants are covered in bug slime!"

Though crestfallen at the delay, Jak stopped pacing a trench in the floorboards. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked at the splattered pants, then back to their equally decorated owner. "But, uh. While we're on the subject of pants… I think Taryn was right: the toga's not cutting it." He tugged at the hem demonstratively. "Is there any way I could get something else to wear? And maybe some, um…" His ears drooped. "Underwear?"

Daxter snickered. His buddy could get high on dark eco and tear metal heads apart with his bare claws, but he couldn't bring up underwear without getting ruffled. Adorable. "Feelin' my pain after all these years, Jakkie-boy?"

The greener ottsel rolled his eyes. "If I ever laughed at your underwear soliloquies, consider this my formal apology."

"Apology accepted." Dax laughed. "Don't worry, pal. We'll get ya hooked up soon enough. If we're goin' back in there with barrels blazin' you're gonna need some gloves, at the very least." He peered up at the bar. "Hey Tessie, what would you say to a shopping trip? Lunch is on me!"

No answer came from above but the clink of metal on metal.

With more than enough experience with his girlfriend in the zone, he scaled a stool and popped up beside her. "Earth to Tessie; come in, Tessie; do you copy?"

Elbow deep in the sprayer pack, she made a vaguely affirming noise and didn't look up. She sat cross-legged on the bar, at the center of an array of tools. A third the size of a regular gunsmith, she could do finer work on guns now and even crawl inside some of the bigger ones. Talk about getting consumed by your work.

He nosed a little closer. "Everything okay, sweet-cheeks?"

The blonde ottsel pulled out her arm, flicking off the clinging oil and goop. "No wonder you're not doing enough damage—you're barely using any explosives!" Standing abruptly, she strapped on the sprayer pack, grabbed the nozzle, and sparked the pilot light to flickering life. "With these upgrades, you should be able to shoot poison, fire, and regular ammo! Watch this." Aiming casually into the kitchen, she pulled the trigger.

"Whoa!" Daxter hit the deck as a massive spurt of flame erupted from the pack and shot into the adjoining room.

Below, startled by the whoosh of unexpected heat and light, Jak executed a flawless leap-and-dodge combo. He landed on all fours with a hiss, teeth bared and hackles at full salute.

As Daxter cautiously raised his head, the sprinkler system deployed.

With a bright smile, Tess turned back to see their reactions, too swept up in success to acknowledge the downpour soaking her pelt. "Now that's more like it!"

~ ~ ~

It took less time than Daxter would have expected to override the sprinklers, dispose of the charred remains of an unlucky blender, and call the insurance company. That accomplished, he headed upstairs for a much-anticipated shower while the floors downstairs began to dry. 

Tess followed with a spring in her step, still dripping.

"Nothing dampens your spirits, does it, baby doll?" Dax grinned as he climbed into the tub.

She hopped to the sink and plugged in the hair dryer with a smile in return. "Not often, but right now the rest of me sure is."

They shared the bathroom in comfortable silence for several minutes. Daxter whistled as he shampooed the remnants of battle from his fur; Tess dried, fluffed, and combed until her pelt and hair were tidy once more. 

When Daxter cut the water and climbed out of the tub, Tess was waiting with a towel and a brush. He surrendered to her capable hands with a willing purr. "So, am I correct in jumping to the conclusion that you showed Jakkie-boy how nice a brush can feel while I was out?"

She giggled and ran the bristles down his spine. "Caught me red-handed. He just looked so pitiful when you left him behind."

"How'd he take it?"

Blonde eyebrows gave a naughty wiggle. "About as well as you usually take it."

"Oooh. Sorry I missed it." He wrapped the towel around his waist and flicked excess water from his ears. "You think he's adjusting a little better to bein' an ottsel, then?"

She paused to ponder, twirling the brush in her fingers. "I think he is, whether or not he realizes it. Did you see him shake himself dry downstairs? He didn't even pause to think about it. He seems to be using his nose a lot more, too." Standing on tiptoe, she put the brush back on the sink. "Speaking of noses…"

Daxter shook shed orange fur off the towel before looping it back on the rack. "What about 'em?"

"This morning, when Taryn was here. You were sniffing Jak like he was a four course meal and you were starving to death." Her arms crossed playfully over her chest. "Anything you'd like to share?"

His ears shot vertical at the memory that had been pushed to the back of his mind by clusters of metal bugs. "Oh, baby, it was amazing! He smelled like us, Tessie! Us and him and sex!" He threw his arms around her and squeezed, head pillowed on her chest as his tail twitched in delight. "So, so amazing."

"Sounds like it!" She laughed, stroking his damp ears. "So you don't think it was too much too soon, making love right next to him last night?"

He snorted dismissively, this time reveling in the scent that was pure Tess. "Nah. He was so out of it last night I doubt he even knew we pulled it off. But scent-marking the bed'll definitely start puttin' ideas in his little green head, whether he knows it or not."

She petted his head indulgently. "Naughty and strategic; that's my Daxxie-waxxie."

"You know it, sweetheart." With one last hug he straightened, fluffing his fur into proper alignment. "Alrighty, let's get this show on the road. I promised our pal some gloves. Hate to leave the guy hangin'."

~ ~ ~

Amid a milling crowd that afternoon, a street vendor handed an ottsel three sizzling yakow kebabs.

"Perfect. And here's a little something extra for you..." Daxter tucked a folded bill into the vendor's shoe with a wink, then waddled back to the group and stuffed a wad of bills back into his side pocket.

Jak cocked an ear. "When did you get money? I thought the bar's profits were going to scrubbing all traces of Krew off of it."

The younger ottsel sighed, slumping just as he was about to bite into the treat. "And so it shall be for some time to come."

Tess, meanwhile, chomped at the barbecued meat, then gestured with the whole stick. "Some parts of the bar are actually a completely different color than they appear to be."

Dax placed a paw on his chest, raising the skewer like a sword. "The money's from lending a certain product my star power."

Arms crossed, Jak still managed to nibble at his kebab. "You got an endorsement deal?"

The bepanted ottsel threw an arm around his best friend. "Jak ol' buddy, we are now the proud spokescritters for Ottsel-brand wetsuits."

Tess nodded. "They also made a bunch of cute underwear for us. They're very supportive." She looked Jak up and down with a critical eye. "Speaking of which, we should find some pants for him if he's going with you next time you go bugging."

The shorter ottsel groaned. "Aww, d'we have to?"

"Hey, not all of us have access to super-advanced space pants." Jak wiped a bit of sauce from his clothes, which only reminded him it was really a glorified napkin.

After hitting up a few other shops, they came to the local fingerless glove emporium. A shopkeeper looked up from sewing sequins on a gaudy set. Racks of paired wares lined the walls, but the trio padded straight back to the kids' section, where the shelves were low and the prices not to scale.

Jak stretched his fingers in one of the smallest leather gloves in the joint. "I'm surprised they make these in our size."

"Yeah, they're off a Wastelander Wendy doll." Tess examined a more formal pair in pastel green. 

The greenish ottsel cocked an eyebrow. "Wastelander Wendy doesn't believe in pants? Or was Daxter just too proud to wear them?"

The shorter ottsel laughed. "Doll pants are not made for the anatomically correct." He caressed the lap of his trousers. "And I [i]am[/i] especially gifted in the anatomical correctness department."

"And he has a tail." She patted his rump.

He nodded at her patting paw. "That too."

"The shirts fit, though." She did a little spin and waved her tail at him. "And I cinched watch bands together to make this rockin' belt."

The hero of Haven City blinked at her butt. "Very… um, resourceful."

They made their purchases. The clerk at the counter cast a few extra glances their way as she counted out their change, but said nothing about the sudden increase in ottsel population. 

At another business a few blocks down, they special-ordered pants and tunics that would fit a miniature hero's measurements. That the shop in question was an upscale children's clothing shop went gracefully uncommented upon.

"Thanks for the help." Jak placed a paw on either ottsel's shoulder. "I was afraid I'd have to be like Daxter and run around naked for years on end."

Tess giggled. "Yeah, Daxxie's a bit of a showoff like that. He should know by now clothes have their upsides." She threw an arm around either boy, then cast a scandalous glance down her lover. "Like, they're fun to take off!"

The greenish ottsel walked into a lamp post. With a sharp clunk. "Ow! By the Prec--" He staggered back, but once he shook off the shock he found himself strangely unharmed. "Okay, this body's more durable than I thought," he mused, running his paws up and down his chest calculatingly. 

"You have no idea." She winked.

Jak lifted his ears, trying to recall if Tess had always been as much of a flirt as her boyfriend.

~ ~ ~

As the trio passed an arcade, Daxter popped up with a shout. "Whoa!" Before his companions could respond, the shorter ottsel vanished through the door with a patter of frantic paws. 

After exchanging a shrug, Tess and Jak followed.

Inside, arcade machines lined the walls with blinking colors and blooping noises. A few patrons plinked away at low-res aliens or smashed through crates as some kind of marsupial. 

Daxter caressed the cabinets with awe, staggering between the ones with for-sale signs. "The First of Us! Unmapped! We're talkin' modern classics here." He spun to face the woman behind the counter. "And you're just sellin' 'em?"

Blowing a bubble in her gum, she surrendered a shrug. "Power bill's getting expensive, so I put some of the worst energy-hogs up for sale."

The tittering ottsel spun with glee to his fellows. "Guys, we gotta buy these!"

Tess appraised the machines, then their seller. "How much?"

The gum snapped between her teeth. "Sixty orbs a piece."

Jak winced. "That's kind of a lot."

The female ottsel crossed her arms. "I'll give you a hundred for the pair."

The attendant offered another shrug. "Fine, but you haul them away."

Daxter grabbed the communicator off his belt and raised it in triumph. "I shall have Ximon's zoomer here within the hour!"

"Okay, but let him drive this time; we don't need bug poison on the new machines." Tess smiled at her lover's obvious delight.

Jak stroked claws through his little beard. "Don't we already have one? The whack-a-metal-head game?"

"Yeah, turns out customers don't like bein' zapped." He made a slight electrocuted pose, then continued: "We stick these babies in the corner, though, and watch the money roll in."

"And arcade machines imply it's the kind of establishment you won't get shot for drinking in, which we need."

"I guess you guys know what you're doing." Jak shrugged. "It's your bar, after all."

"Since you're officially a resident of Ottseltopia, you can have input too." Daxter bumped his friend on the arm. "We could give ya a little coffee station at the end of the bar." 

Tess nodded. "Java Jak's, we'll call it."

"I don't know..." The greenish ottsel couldn't help but smile at the pair's enthusiasm. "I'm not big on customer service."

~ ~ ~

Ximon proved as punctual as Daxter had lauded him to be. Within half an hour of receiving the call, he arrived at the arcade with his dump zoomer to transport the newly acquired game cabinets. The vehicle shuddered to the street with a whirr and a roll of dust. 

The gangly young man emerged, unfolding from the driver's seat. "Hey there, little furry dude and dudette! What’s shakin’?" Grinning, he leaned down to give Daxter and Tess five, a gesture both dutifully returned.

"Just doing a little shopping while we wait for Taryn to reload our spray packs. As you can see, we scored some primo deals!" Daxter indicated the games he had chosen and preened. "You can be our first player! Coins on the house for moving ‘em for us."

"Awesome, dude," Ximon agreed. Then he caught sight of Jak. "Whoa! Who’s your new buddy, dude?"

Tess linked her arm with Jak’s as he shifted uncomfortably. "This is our friend Jak. I think you two might have met once before? He did look a bit different then."

"Oh, yeah! I totally remember you. Dude, weren't you like...taller and stuff before?" He nodded sagely. "I remember that kind of stuff because one of my ancestors was a famous sculptor. It’s where I inherited my eye for detail, you know."

"Whoa!" Daxter's eyes shot wide. "Jak, this explains so much..."

Jak closed his eyes with a suffering sigh. "This guy is going to be absolutely no help to us whatsoever..."

"Jak had a run-in with some Precursor tech and ended up joining the ottsel entourage," Tess explained. "He’s sticking with us while we figure out what to do about it."

"Righteous." Ximon leaned down to pat Jak encouragingly on the back. "The more the merrier, I always say." He looked at the three of them thoughtfully. "Now, I’ve heard you’re an action-packed kind of dude, so will you be giving Daxter a paw with the—" he wriggled his fingers and made a toothy face, "—creepy crawly problem?"

"Absolutely," Jak said firmly.

Daxter rolled his eyes with a grin. "Ximon, you couldn’t keep him away from this funhouse if ya tried."

"Rock on, dude. My old man and I really appreciate you helping us out, especially when you’re already dealing with some stuff of your own."

"Right now I’m not helping. I’m shopping," Jak grumped, ears lilting back. "While you’re here, maybe we could talk about the situation. Approximately how many metal hea—"

Tess shooshed him gently. "Jak, sweetie, I know you’re impatient. We’re not downplaying how important the situation is, believe me. But the middle of the marketplace during the afternoon shopping rush isn’t the best time or place to discuss delicate details. Anyone could overhear."

"She’s right, pal." Daxter shrugged apologetically. "Right now it’s ‘hurry up and wait,’ which is no fun for you, I realize. How about we all talk about it back at the bar while Ximon unloads the games?"

Jak seemed to deflate with a sigh. "Alright."

Tess watched his resignation sympathetically. Poor guy. She had specialized in watching and waiting at her post for the Underground, but she couldn’t deny that she knew how it felt to be held back when there was action to be leapt into. "We’re almost done here, anyway. Why don’t we start heading back? We can window shop while we walk."

~ ~ ~

After seeing Ximon off with the machines, the trio waddled off through the rest of the market district. At some length, they passed a bedding shop. Colorful quilts and satiny sheets billowed on the breeze, hung on racks on either side of the door.

"Ooh! Pillows are on sale." Tess bounced on her fuzzy toes. "We can replace the ones we stole from around the bar."

Jak paused, contemplating if his crocodog would have enough space to run in the bar. Maybe not—he seemed pretty happy running around the old Sandover Village, bothering Samos.

"Awww, they have those little beds for crocodogs." She patted the foam-stuffed nest. "Just about ottsel-size." 

"Oh no." Daxter flattened the idea with his hands. "Sleepin' in a pillow fort is a life-long dream. Sleepin' in a pet bed is just insulting."

As they debated the point, a passing preteen girl picked him up and shook him. 

"Aaaaah!" The captured ottsel flailed.

With a look of wonder, the girl hoisted Daxter for inspection. "Mom! Mom! We totally need this!"

The Precursor tried in vain to escape the hands around his waist. "Put me down, ya brat!"

"Whoa!" She gave him a gleeful shake. "They talk when ya squeeze 'em!"

Mom looked down with concern. "I don't know, sweetie; it seems kind of dirty..."

"Hey!" Daxter squirmed, jabbing a finger at the parent. "Lady, I'll have you know I showered this morning! With soap!"

"Ack!" The adult jumped back. "Sweetie, put that down, we don't know if it's had its shots!"

"But Mom!" The girl clutched him to her chest. "He's so cute!"

Squeezed again, Daxter spat out a string of profanity. 

The child's mother tsked. "No, dear; that’s not suitable for kids." She dragged her offspring away, causing her to drop the struggling ottsel. 

Dax landed with a squeak. He stood and shook his fist as they vanished into the crowd. "You come back here and I'll show you 'not suitable'!"

Jak laughed outright while Tess giggled.

With outright exasperation, Dax rounded on his companions: "What?"

"Nothing, whiskerpuss." The female Precursor shrugged. "Kids are cute."

"If by cute ya mean terrible!" He pointed a spindly arm after the long-gone pair. "What a little jerk!"

Jak leaned in and, without realizing what he was doing, gave him a nuzzle of consolation.

The shorter ottsel spun to Tess, whiskers sprung out. "Eeeee, Tessie, he nuzzled me!"

"Uh, I think that was just some sort of ottsel instinct." He rubbed the back of his neck. 

Smiling wide, she clasped her paws with a bounce. "Wow, we have the most adorable instincts ever!"

~ ~ ~

Night fell and Jak climbed the access stairs to the roof of the Naughty Ottsel. He lay on the cool concrete of the zoomer pad, contemplating the Universe.

Even with the city light, the stars shone with eternal clarity against the great void of space. What would his life be like if he took the Precursors up on their offer to help reclaim the Universe? They might even be more excited about recruiting him if they knew about his current body.

To think, people who looked just like him were out there, fighting evil and reclaiming the stars. And they'd been doing so since the beginning of time. His people built the planet he'd spent his life saving. Becoming a hero was one thing: all he had to do was step up when no one else could. But how does somebody learn to live as a god?

He shook his head. Heavy stuff. But he'd have plenty of time to ponder it later, once he got turned back to normal. In the meantime, the night air had chilled. Time to head inside. He padded downstairs on silent yellow paws.

As he came to the landing on the second floor, he saw all the lights had been turned off. The pale glow of a streetlamp radiated from the open bedroom door, however. The distant sound of mattress springs and impassioned voices echoed down the hall. 

He knew he shouldn't peek. Yet his quiet paws carried him closer and closer to the doorway.

"Yeah, you like that hot ottsel cock, don't ya?"

"Uh-huh!" A squeal of pleasure. "Oh Daxter!"

"Mmmm…" A grunt, followed by slick noises. "Oh yeah..."

Jak peered around the corner. Over the edge of the bed, his friends' tails draped, tensing and teasing in ecstatic twitches. Above, golden hair shimmering down her back in the street light, the sleek form of a female ottsel rode her lover. At the bottom of each bounce, she wiggled, rocking her hips to jostle his shaft inside her. 

He should really leave. While they flirted with him, spying on them no doubt crossed a line. His constant presence in their lives and their very bed had to be taking a toll on their love life; they more than deserved the alone time. The tent at the front of his toga raised a point in favor of staying, however. Caught in the tension, he kept watching.

On the bed, his friends' lovemaking heated to a steamy pace. Daxter's hind paws stroked down her tail as his hands gripped her bouncing hips. Words became whispers, then breathless gasps in the dim room. Light as they were, their passion managed to not only creak the bed, but shake it. 

At his cock's firm insistence, Jak's paw rubbed it through the loose cloth. Familiar blooms of pleasure tingled through alien flesh. 

"Aaaahh! Here it comes!" Daxter's toes splayed, then curled tight. He rocked up on his ankles and buried himself over and over into Tess's welcoming folds. 

"Daxxie! Oh! Ooooooooh!" Her ears tilted back, back, back… then shot to perfect stiffness in an instant. "Aaaaggggh!" She shivered atop him, supple body caught in the grips of euphoria. 

They trembled together, clutching each other, then slumped together, tails spread just far enough to reveal glints of white on his sheath and sac, and along her delicate lips. 

In the quiet of their afterglow, guilt caught up with Jak. He tiptoed toward a cold shower, though every downward glance at the spot of precum reminded him just how much he'd enjoyed the show. Closing the door, he turned on the cold water, then made the leap to the sink and flicked on the light. His reflection in the mirror avoided his gaze, though a quick glimpse confirmed his ears were blushing as bright as they felt. He pulled off his toga, let it flutter to the floor, then tugged down the clingy little underpants they'd given him. His erection sprung free and bobbed up for his attention. Jak cast it a dubious glance.

His dick as an ottsel was kind of adorable. 

It shone in the bathroom light, pink and cheery above a pastel-yellow sac. Precum twinked at the sleek tip. The tapered length protruded from a soft-furred sheath. Curious, the green-blonde ottsel prodded it down. It bounced back up, ready for more. 

Still very careful, he tugged the sheath a little further down the wider base, then shivered. Okay, that sensation he remembered. Though his dick had quite plainly come out to play, guilt tangled up in his guts at the memory of spying on his friends, even if it was an accident. They should've closed their door, but he shouldn't have peeked. 

With a swallow and a deep breath, he balled up his little fists and marched off the edge of the sink to slide down the wall of the tub and into the cool spray. Erection shrinking back into its sheath and out of mind, he sprawled on the floor of the tub and watched the ceiling. The steady drip of a leaking tap kept time as his thoughts marched on.

~ ~ ~

Sorry about the delay here! I was whisked away to be guest of honor at Camp Feral. We now return you to your regularly scheduled ottsels. 

Sketch: Slate  
Cleanup & colors: Tempo  
Text: SillyNekoRobin & Tempo

Let me know what you think! 

~Tempo


	7. Chapter Six

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 6  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

Jak finally falls prey to Tess and Daxter’s sexy plans. A fuzzy, loving threesome ensues. He never stood a chance.

Note: This is set after Jak X.

~ ~ ~

 

Jak had never appreciated underpants so much. Going commando while out for a walk was one thing, but jetboarding meant being one tilt away from giving everyone below an eyeful. Sure, he'd had to borrow Daxter's undies, but they'd done weirder stuff on sleepovers as kids… and as teenagers. His ears simmered at the heat of Daxter's lips in the memory. Firmly, he pushed the thought aside. Time to focus.

He hovered to a landing outside Keira's shop. "Hey, anybody home?" When nobody responded, he padded inside, keeping his absorbent paws clear of the occasional oil puddle.

He walked in to find her bent over, working on some customized zoomer. Not too long ago, his heartbeat would've spiked from seeing her bent over a chassis like that. Now? He was hard pressed to notice a difference. The thought made him frown a bit. Maybe it had something to do with becoming an ottsel? But then again, Daxter never seemed to have any problem getting turned on by human women.

Jak cleared his throat, a noise that seemed too high.

The mechanic popped up from the zoomer's engine compartment. "Oh, hey, Jak."

"Hey, Keira.” His ears flicked back against his will at her casual tone. “Seems like you’re pretty cool with me being an ottsel now. In fact, everyone is." He scowled over his shoulder, back at the memory of the council meeting. "Aside from laughing at me."

Keira straightened from the car she'd been tuning up and stroked her chin. "I was pretty gobsmacked at first, but I guess I did get strangely indifferent strangely quickly. Now that you mention it, that might even be something the Precursors planned."

He crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"

"If you think about it, what would be the safest response for humans to have to Precursors? This is just speculative, but, while manipulating our world, they would've had plenty of access to our ancestors. If they somehow coded in an instinct to consider fuzzy orange creatures as not a big deal, we'd never be a threat." Interest sparked in her eyes. "It could also be that you give off some sort of pheromone that makes us consider you nonthreatening."

Jak sniffed his wrist. Nothing unusual, though he did sort of smell like the kabobs from lunch.

"It probably wouldn't be consciously detectable, especially to a human nose." She bounced with glee. Keira always did have hot and cold running emotions. "But we could consult a biochemist. Have you noticed any new glands? They'd likely be under your tail, near or inside your—"

"Umm, no."

She crossed her arms. "'No' you haven't noticed any, or 'no' you don't want to take a sample for analysis?"

"I don't need to be probed or… analyzed." Jak glanced at his tail with concern. "I need to be changed back. We have an eco shortage and a bunch of Metal Bugs under our doorstep. I’ll have a much better chance of fixing that if I’m not three feet tall and fuzzy."

"Alright, but make sure to ask Daxter if he'd mind." She finished tightening something under the hood with a distant grin. "This could lead to a whole new field of study!"

"Figures." He sat down on a spare fender, only after the fact checking if it was clean. "I get through saving the world with barely a scratch, then get turned into an ottsel by some broken Precursor junk."

Keira tilted a spanner in his direction. "Actually, I examined the staff. Extensively. And I don't think it's broken. I've suspected for a while that some of the Precursor tech we come across has medical uses. I think the staff took one look at you and assumed you were a really screwed up ottsel. From the point of view of the staff, it worked perfectly."

Lights flickered around them. He glanced up, muzzle pursed in a frown. "Power station must be running low on eco."

She nodded, concern tempering her excitement. "The brownouts have been getting more frequent. But as for that staff, I'm pretty sure I've only scratched the surface of what it can do."

Jak leaned back on the fender without thinking, coating his paws in grease. It sank instantly into his finger fur, unable to be wiped off. Man, being fuzzy was kind of a pain. "Could dark eco change me back? We have plenty of that, still."

"Well, it might. But dark eco's unpredictable." Keira winced with worry, looking him over. "It could snap you back to normal, but it could just as easily burn out your higher brain functions like the Marauders."

"Great. Then I could spend the rest of my days making suicidal charges at passing motorists." He sighed, ears flattening at the unflattering mental image. "What are our other options?"

"I'm not sure we have any, yet." She spun the wrench in her hand with a wink. "But don't worry, I won't leave you hanging."

Jak summoned a small smile. “Thanks, Keira. I’ll keep in touch.”

As he padded out of the shop, he couldn't help but notice how calm he felt, so much different than he had after their first confrontation so many days ago. His head felt clearer. No nerves jumbled his gut. Strangely, it was more of a relief than a loss.

Keira had been a good, if flighty, friend before his crush on her. At least he could count on that much of his world not changing.

~ ~ ~

Jak returned to Naughty Ottsel as night fell. Tess and Daxter bustled about, serving drinks and tidbits to the few scattered patrons. The new arcade machines blinked and blooped in the corner.

Without needing to ask, he tied on one of the little aprons and helped Daxter run beverages. The bar was, perhaps, not the undisputed place to be, but gaining popularity as a fun place to hang out—attracting younger patrons who would rather play pool and shoot the breeze than shoot someone in the face.

Tonight's special was BBQ leaper burger on a pretzel bun. A warble of sizzling energy now and then heralded Tess’s presence in the kitchen, flash-frying the patties with a modified plasma gun. The hired help, whose names Jak hadn't learned yet, mostly knew not to step on his tail.

A couple hours later, with the evening rush wound down, Daxter paused him with a paw on the shoulder, then stole the apron off his front. "Quittin' time, big guy." He tossed the garment over the bar. “It’s been a day. Ready to turn in?”

Jak nodded amiably. A little planning ahead and a little more menial labor had done the trick of diffusing his nervous energy. Where unease would normally linger, there was now only a pleasant tiredness.

“Tessy, we’re headin’ upstairs!” Daxter called as they scaled the stairs.

When they reached the top, the slimmer ottsel bounced to flick the light switch. Conversations in the bar below faded as the door closed. In companionable quiet, a rarity for Daxter, they stripped for bed and hopped into fresh undies. Jak tried not to stare as his friend wiggled the garment up onto his tail.

The door creaked open several minutes later and allowed a female ottsel to pad in. "We did pretty well tonight." Tess stretched into a giggle, kicking the door shut. "I'll have to chalk that up to our hot new server."

"I don't know how much of an impact I had." Jak shrugged. "People don't even know who I am anymore."

She just smiled. "Whether they know who you are or not, they can still see how cute you are. It's a good thing I got to Daxie when I did. Heroes must get all the action."

Dax laughed. "'Cept it's been all adventure and no action up to this point, right Jak?"

The greenish ottsel's ears dropped, his body stiff. A blush burned under his fur as he shot the loudmouth a dirty look.

His best friend threw his hands into a shrug. "What?"

"Snookums, I think we should let Jak get some sleep." Without hesitation and with a glimmer of amusement, Tess shucked her clothes and ambled into her skimpy sleepwear. "You're about ready to come to bed with us, aren't you Jak?"

"Uhh!" The green-tinged ottsel cleared his throat. "Well, I mean, yeah, sure..."

Rolling his eyes, Daxter hopped from a well-placed footstool onto the mattress and weaseled between the sheets. He rolled to his side and offered his friend a paw.

Jak took it and allowed himself to be hauled up onto the bed. Until becoming an ottsel, he'd never noticed just how strong they were per pound. He just hoped Dax hadn't noticed the stubborn bulge in the front of his boxers.

Tess bounded into bed and cuddled between them. She and her boyfriend snuggled up in an instant.

Jak resolutely faced the wall, not wanting to prod them with his uninvited erection. Yeah, he and his rebellious lower half really needed to get back to normal. No matter where he started the night in their bed, he ended up in the ottsel pile. Sooner or later, he'd end up having to explain constant boners.

~ ~ ~

The next morning arrived on schedule, but Jak overslept. When he staggered downstairs close to noon, the other two ottsels scampered about with purpose.

In his underpants, surfing on a cloth-covered stand, Daxter shoved a full-size iron across his space pants. Jak had never seen it make any difference—that garment seemed immune to wrinkles—but the guy seemed pretty intent on it. The green-furred ottsel padded under the ironing board undetected. He even managed to snag a mug of still-warm coffee from the countertop, though he had to carry it in both hands.

Through the door to the machine shop, he saw Tess check over a trio of sprayer packs.

"We have three now?" His ears lifted. "I don't think we can drag a spare around."

"Morning, Jak!" She held one up for inspection. "I called in a favor from Taryn. Figured you guys could use a little backup."

Jak glanced to his friend for support, but Daxter seemed preoccupied searching for his missing coffee. Instead, the scruffy ottsel rubbed the scruff of his neck. "You're coming with us?"

"Yep!" She set her fists on her hips, smirking as she awaited his response.

"I don't know, Tess." He raised his paws in caution. "It's gonna be pretty dangerous."

"No, dangerous would be trying to talk her into not watchin' our backs." Atop the ironing board, Daxter danced into the still-steaming jeans. "Ooh, toasty."

Tess cocked a hip and gave him a resolute look, the pack in one paw.

Jak surrendered to the idea. If Tess could build and endlessly modify their weaponry, it was highly unlikely that she couldn’t hold her own with it. "Alright. Three ottsels were better than one."

"Glad you think so." A smarmy smirk flashed to her lips.

"So it's back to that same hole?"

"Nah, the city dumped poison down that one and filled it in with concrete." Dax polished his goggles. "Sig called this morning. He’s found us a bigger nest out in the old eco mines."

Jak nodded, reassured. At least Sig could be relied upon to react to this mess like an adult. Someone had to have told him about the hero’s little mishap by now anyway.

~ ~ ~

No one had told Sig. Which would have been fine, if his reaction hadn't been to laugh.

The ottsel trio stood around the holo-projector, trading glances.

"No, no, I'm good." The big man wiped a tear from his organic eye. "Okay, chili pepper— Wait. I can't tell what color you are over the hologram."

Tess looked Jak over. "Yellow. Bit of green."

Sig grinned. "Alright then, banana, here's the plan..."

~ ~ ~

Bumps jostled Jak as he sat in the passenger's seat of Sig’s favorite dune buggy. The other ottsels perched on the gun rack.

Eyes on the horizon, Sig gripped the steering wheel. "Quite the change having all three of you fit on my buggy."

The newest ottsel nodded. "Yeah, things sure are different."

They rode on in silence for a time, wind whistling through ears both furry and smooth. After a while, though, Sig cleared his throat.

Jak glanced up at him questioningly.

Sig winced as if the topic were tough to bring up. "Actually, I've been wanting to talk to you about that. Man to man."

Green-tipped ears perked, ready to hear some gem of manly wisdom. "Yeah?"

The cyborg cleared his throat. "Now Jak, sometimes a young man's body goes through some changes..."

Jak's jaw dropped.

The human continued in the same serious tone: "You may have noticed more hair in strange places and your voice changing."

Laughter erupted from the gun rack. Tess and Daxter leaned on each other, gasping for air as they struggled to compose themselves. Jak just scowled.

"You may have felt some urges—"

His tiny new fists socked the man in the elbow, to no visible effect. "By the Precursors, Sig—!"

"—say, to overindulge in drinking or pick fights with people three times your size."

"Shut up!" Jak buried his face in his fuzzy paws. "Just shut up! My respect for you is at an all-time low!"

A thick hand patted his bony shoulder as the bigger man chuckled helplessly. "But the important thing to remember is you'll always be the snarling little maniac we all know and love."

Arms crossed, Jak slumped with a harrumph. If Sig wasn't one of his favorite people, Jak would have bitten the shit out of him. As it stood, though, he had to admit he appreciated the cyborg's infuriating affirmation.

~ ~ ~

Tess tried to keep her case of the giggles from getting symptomatic, least Daxter catch it again. She knew Sig had a decent sense of humor, but that had come out of left field. Jak had taken the playful ribbing better than she had expected, at any rate, with Sig remaining unbitten and free of lacerations.

With Jak still stewing, the buggy skidded to a stop. The earthen tiers of an eco mine towered around them.

The ottsels hopped to the dirt and unloaded their armaments.

Jak turned back to their driver. "You coming?"

Sig shook his head. "Can't fit. Guess your new bod has some advantages. Don’t worry, though.” He smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be up here with one foot on the gas. If things get hairy down there—no pun intended, chili pepper, quit glarin’ at me—get back up and we’ll be out of here in a Kras City second."

“Sounds like a plan, my man.” Daxter unzipped a duffle of sprayer accessories. "Okay! Jakkie-boy, do ya want the pressure booster, the flamethrower, or the ultrasonic thingamajig?"

With a grinning grab, Jak snapped the flamethrower attachment in place, then gave it a few quick test shots. His maniacal laugh overwhelmed even the roar of the flames.

"Flamethrower it is." Dax rolled his eyes. "Why do I even bother to ask?"

Inordinately pleased at Jak’s enjoyment of her modifications, Tess grabbed the ultrasonic attachment and twisted it into place. She took a deep, grounding breath and squared her shoulders, zoning in on the challenge at hand.

This was it. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t confined to the sidelines, scrounging for intel and modding weapons she would never get the chance to use outside of the gun course. Now she was standing on the front lines with the greatest heroes she knew. It was time to prove her mettle.

Together, the ottsel brigade strutted over the blasted earth, spray tanks sloshing. The mine entrance loomed ahead, a shadowed maw. A tingle of tension trembled in her ottsel tummy as they marched inside.

~ ~ ~

A gout of fire lit the cavern, Metal Bug carapaces exploding in spatters of goo. Spray tank sloshing on his back, the green-blonde ottsel swung his flamethrower around, toasting another swarm of insectoid horrors.

With Metal Bugs threatening to overwhelm them, they'd managed a fighting retreat back to the primary mineshaft. Normally, Daxter would've bailed by now, but Jak didn't seemed to be taking the ten thousand razor-mandibled hints bearing down on them.

With a sweep of flame, he doused more bugs with burning poison, only to have still more crawl right over their twitching bodies. Jak stood his ground, teeth clenched, and fought harder. As the swarm closed in, he bashed more than a few with the butt of his sprayer, to little effect.

Daxter rolled his eyes at the gory display. The kid never had known when to quit, but this was overkill. Or, rather, overprotection.

But even Jak’s ruthless tactics weren’t proving to be enough. The bugs closed in from dozens of tunnels, threatening to cut them off from the mineshaft, their only route of escape.

By the airy slosh at his back, Daxter guessed he had about a quarter tank left. He called out to his fellow ottsels, mounting concern ringing in his shout. "I'm runnin' low—" He fired another blast of bug juice down a corridor, instigating a splatter of green gore. "—we should blow this bugsicle stand."

Tess launched a ball of green energy off into a cluster of egg sacs with slimetastic results. With a look of nervous elation, she nodded his way and started backing up toward him. Fifty feet above, the entrance of the mine poured light down on them.

At least one of the trio, however, wasn’t going to accept retreat quietly.

"Yaaaaahhhh!" Paces away, Daxter’s best friend yowled in defiance and spread his arms, fur standing on end as it crackled with purple energy. His supple form hunched, every muscle tensed and straining as he lashed the air with black claws. He didn't get any bigger of course. Just angrier. And strangely grey.

Surging forward in alarm, Dax clamped a paw on Jak's shoulder, ignoring the tang of dark eco in the air. "Buddy, forget it! We gotta get outta here!"

Deaf to reason, Jak roared and charged forward. Gleaming claws drove into the metal exoskeletons of two bugs, then smashed them together. Their ruined forms were kicked into an oncoming riot of carapaced flesh. His sprayer dangled at his hip, pilot light sputtering in ankle-deep grime. Here and there, it ignited a pool of poison with a crimson flare.

Despite the terrifying counterattack, Metal Bugs poured in from all sides and scuttled to surround him. The occasional tail-slap or punch knocked them back, but the waves of insectoids almost hid the rampaging ottsel from view.

Tess leveled her sprayer, then cursed. "He's in my line of fire!"

"Jak!" Daxter’s arms spread in exasperation. "Seriously?!" Snatching the bug swatter from his belt, he thumbed the power switch and watched it crackle to electric life. He smacked and spanked his way toward the rogue ottsel, scattering bugs in all directions. "Ya doin' okay, pumpkin?"

"I'm right behind you, snookums." She fired a few pulses of poison behind her, keeping the takeoff zone clear.

Fighting his way to the flailing Dark Ottsel, Daxter let the swatter zip back on its line to his belt. His paws groped at Jak's pack harness, but slicked off on bug guts. With Metal Heads closing in from all sides, he decided he couldn't afford to be choosy about where he got a grip.

Tess's backpack clanked against his. Bugs scrambled over their exploded comrades toward her.

"Hold on!" Dax primed his almost-empty spray canister, then pointed it down. "Time for Orange Lightning to bolt outta here!" With a quick appeal to the fuzzy higher powers, he pulled Tess’s arms around him, seized Jak by a handful of cloth, and pulled the trigger.

The pressure kicked them instantly into the air. Dark Jak yelped in indignant shock as he was hoisted by the mother of all wedgies.

The dangling pilot light of Jak's sprayer bounced into the stream of green vapor, igniting it into a column of coursing fire. Catapulted up the throat of the mine shaft, they left some serious heartburn in its gut. Pools of bug juice flashed into a rolling inferno. Metal Bugs detonated with screeches of bursting steel as they boiled inside their shells.

Tess clung to his side as the three-ottsel rocket soared up. Jak snarled, both down upon the bugs and at his own underpants.

Dax gulped and clutched the trigger harder as he felt the propellant falter. "Yeah, yeah, complain all ya want, big guy..."

They flew from the mouth of the mine and landed, with a giant poof of dust, in a heap before two metal-booted feet.

Sig stood, watching in shock and awe. With one hand, he lifted Dark Jak by the scruff in amazement. "Wow. You kids never cease to impress me with the ways you can almost get killed."

The ash-furred ottsel hissed and spat before the eco fizzled out with a pop. Color returned to his eyes and pelt, horns and claws vaporizing in a crackle of violet energy. He shook his head, then flashed a sheepish grin to Sig, paws and tail curled in.

"Jeepers!" Tess panted, paw to her chest. "Is fighting Metal Bugs that crazy every time?"

"No babe, sometimes it gets serious." With a cough, Daxter straightened. "These ones don't even have a big, bad Mama Bug to take charge." He propped himself up on the empty sprayer gun. "Like Kor; he was one bad mother." He smirked at her.

The others replied with a collective groan.

"Literally and figuratively—still can't figure out how that worked..." He scratched his chin. "Anyway! We're gonna need a bigger gun."

Smoke billowed and belched from the mine entrance. A chorus of clicks and hisses rose from the chasm.

Daxter wrung his dainty paws. "Okay, a way bigger gun."

Tess's soot-smudged face lit up. "I think I know where we can find one..."

~ ~ ~

No one said much on the way back to Haven. Despite the silence, Tess’s nimble mind churned all the while, a well-oiled machine given a boost of blue eco. The plan she had quickly formulated should fall into place with just a few well-timed adjustments.

But first, their tiny battalion needed to regroup and recoup.

Sig dropped them off at the Naughty Ottsel with a rather cheerful farewell, given the circumstances. “Get some rest, you three. You did great out there today.”

Jak huffed in what Tess could only interpret as disagreement, ears back to their lowest extreme as he hopped out of the buggy.

“I mean it,” Sig said firmly, reinforcing the sentiment with a thick pointer finger aimed at the disgruntled ottsel. “You were outnumbered a hundred to one down that hole and you all made it out to tell the tale. That takes guts and talent. And we’ve got a solid plan B now, thanks to Tess, so you’ll finish the job next time.”

She blushed a little under her fur. Sig had always had her back, ever since she was a rookie jostling for her first post in the Underground. “Thanks, Sig.”

The big soldier graced her with a smile. “You all just let me know what else I can do. Catch you cherries later!”

As the buggy rolled away, Daxter wearily hoisted his empty sprayer pack and sighed. “Second time this week I’ve been covered in bug slime. Thank Precursors for indoor plumbing and pelt shampoo.”

“And being small enough that no one has to wait to use the shower.” Tess giggled, shouldering her own pack as they unlocked the saloon and padded inside.

It may have been true, but the second instance of three ottsels cohabitating the bathtub proceeded nothing like the first had. Jak treated the situation less like a hot tub party and more like military barracks; he remained resolutely silent as they all scrubbed down, then vacated the shower as soon as his fur was sufficiently slime-free. Grabbing a towel off the rack to sop up the worst of his dripping fur, he promptly left the room.

“Jak, wait a sec—!” Daxter called after him ineffectually as the door closed behind a wet, green tail-tip. “Damn it.” His own tail thumped the floor of the tub in frustration. “Where the heck does he think he’s goin’?”

Tess patted him on the shoulder. “Well, since we’re standing in his favorite pouting place, I’m guessing he’s either heading down to the bar or hiding under his sofa.”

Her snugglemuffin sighed deeply, squeegeeing water and soap out of his soggy ears. “I dunno what ta do, Tessy. We kicked as much scale as we could down there. Jak’s brain just doesn’t compute ‘strategic retreat.’ It ain’t in his vocabulary.”

She clucked sympathetically. Knowing the hero, retreat was likely synonymous with failure. “Let him cool down for a while, then we’ll talk to him. If anyone can make him feel better, it’s you. You can always get him smiling again, Daxxie.”

“Yeah.” He grinned, droplets forming at the ends of his waterlogged whiskers. "In the meantime… Can I just take this moment to talk about what a BAMF you are?"

She giggled, caught off guard. "Awww, sure you can, sweetie."

“You were awesome today, Tessy. Better than awesome.” Daxter’s arms found their way around her middle as she turned off the water. "The way you handled that sprayer? Made my fur stand on end! Tattooed Wonder would'a turned the rebellion on its ear if he'd just let you out in front with a gun. Wouldn't have been anything left for Jak to shoot!" He purred, nose buried in the wet fur at the back of her neck.

Her ears fell modestly, a warm, happy glow infusing her chest at the honest praise from her fluffy little hero. "Thank you, Daxxie. I’m just glad I could help you. Some jobs are just too big for one ottsel.” Her paws fell to cover his, her tail wrapping gently around his knee as they stood together in the warm, muggy shower. “Jak was great, too. And you two make quite a team."

"He is pretty great, isn't he?" Daxter’s voice rang with pride. “I like to surround myself with awesome blondes, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

"Very awesome,” she confirmed, “...and sweet Precursors he's got that little green goatee and is it not just the cutest thing you've ever seen? I just wanna, I don't know, pet it or something, and by that point it would be weird if I didn't have sex with him, you know?"

“Ha!” He laughed, giving her one final squeeze before untangling to hop out of the tub. “One of these days I’m totally tellin’ Jak you wanna bang him for his chin fuzz.”

She swatted his rear with a washcloth.

~ ~ ~

In the quiet solitude of the upstairs store room, the hero of Haven City curled into the smallest ball he could manage in the corner of his sofa. A bottle of vodka and a shot glass sat abandoned on the floor below, sampled barely enough to get him tipsy.

Jak tucked his tail more firmly over his nose. Drinking his troubles away had seemed like a sound option at the time, but he wasn’t Daxter, as much as he sometimes wished he could be. Common sense reminded him of the consequences of over-imbibing; he quit while he was ahead, leaving him right back at square one.

He was still tiny, furry, and powerless, and now he couldn’t even forget it.

Even shifting to Dark Jak hadn't been enough back in the mine. He had fought harder than ever, given the challenge his absolute all, and what had he gotten to show for it? He’d almost gotten himself killed. Could have gotten Daxter and Tess killed too, if Dax hadn’t kept his wits about him.

And those had only been Metal Bugs. What could he have done against a real threat?

Absolutely nothing.

The door creaked gently, spilling in a sliver of hallway light. Claws clicked lightly on the floorboards. Longer strides revealed the intruder to be Daxter rather than Tess, calling out his presence before he spoke.

“How are ya, big guy?” His brash tone came gentler than usual.

The part of Jak that snarled and bared its fangs at the world had never lumped this particular ottsel in with all the rest of it. After a moment of silence, he answered, but didn’t look up. “I’ve been better. Mostly when I was actually big.”

Daxter sighed deeply. “Jak, you gotta stop bein’ so down on yourself. It’s not healthy. You can still do—”

“Do what, Dax? Because from where I’m sitting, I can barely do anything.” He cringed tighter into his ball of self pity as the sofa creaked, cushions sinking under the weight of his friend. “I can’t live on my own. I sure as hell can’t have a relationship, since the girl I always thought I was going to spend my life with sees me as a puzzle to solve now.”

“Well, screw her!” Dax exploded, startling Jak into lifting his head and ears. “What does she know, anyway? She’s just a mechanical genius; she ain’t that smart!”

It almost got a smile out of the hero before his ears flicked back down again. “You know, it’s weird, but I don’t even care anymore. It just sort of stopped bothering me since I moved in with you guys.” He glanced away, unwilling to meet his best friend’s eyes. “What does bother me is everything else I can’t do. I can’t contribute to anything productive without getting laughed off the board. I can’t neutralize threats. I can’t even protect you and Tess.”

“There’s no ‘I’ in team, y’know,” Daxter told him stubbornly. “We did just fine today without you havin’ to carry the whole thing.” He shuffled around until they were almost nose to nose, forcing Jak to look at him. “Jakkie-boy, yer always awesome. Always have been, always will be. Don’t forget that just ‘cause of a little fuzz.”

They sat that way for several long moments, Jak’s ears and nose heating up at the words spoken as much as the other ottsel’s proximity. The urge to lean up and land a kiss on that loud, outspoken muzzle was almost overwhelming, but he firmly held himself back. Flirting was one thing, but he recognized boundaries when he saw them.

At last, with another sigh, Daxter broke eye contact, ruffled Jak’s hair, and slithered from the sofa. “Well, pal, I’m starvin’. Think I’ll head down to the bar and have a bite with Tessy. You want anything?”

He wanted Daxter to come back. Curl up beside him on the ratty sofa. Chase away the rest of the world with funny words and reassurances. The greenish ottsel swallowed hard. “No thanks, Dax. I’m not hungry.”

“Alright. If you change your mind, you know where we’ll be.”

The door closed softly behind his friend. Jak waited, staring at the wood for a long, contemplative while, before he resolutely reached down and grabbed the neck of the vodka bottle.

~ ~ ~

“How did it go?” Tess asked gently as her snugglemuffin traipsed slowly down the stairs.

Daxter slunk to the bar and dragged himself up onto a stool. “It went. Absolutely nowhere.” His paws moved without his permission, mixing himself a drink even before he had consciously made the decision to do so. “We gotta do somethin’, Tessy. He’s miserable. I hate seein’ him like this!”

The female ottsel pulled herself up on the stool beside him and slid a plate of ducken sandwiches down the bar in offering. “We all had a little trouble adjusting at first, snookums. You remember what that’s like. Don’t you think he’ll be okay?”

He gratefully grabbed the top sandwich and took a huge bite, chasing it with a gulp of whatever it was he’d concocted. “Yeah, but Tessy… it’s different for Jak.”

“Different how?”

“It’s like…” He struggled to explain, to put his thoughts to words. “When I got turned into an ottsel, nothin’ really changed for me.”

Tess raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“No, no, hear me out! I mean, besides the obvious. Sure I was short and furry all of a sudden, but it really didn’t change much besides how I looked. People still treated me the same. Keira still had nothin’ ta do with me, Samos still insulted me, nobody expected anything from me after that because they never did in the first place. Sure it hurt my fuzzy feelings a little, but I never really felt useless ‘cause I was never real useful at the start. You can’t miss what ya never had. But with Jak…”

Her blue eyes widened in understanding. “He was everyone’s golden boy, and now they’ve pushed him aside.”

“Exactly!” he exclaimed around another mouthful of sandwich, crumbs sprinkling the bar top. “He’s havin’ a legitimate crisis an’ I have no idea what ta do about it. He wasn’t even this down on himself when they exiled ‘im from Haven an’ we almost died out in the desert.”

“Probably because he still felt physically competent, at least,” Tess mused, reaching out to thump her boyfriend on the back. “And you can help him now by not choking to death on your sandwich, for starters.”

He obediently washed down the mouthful, barely tasting. “Well, I gotta do somethin’. He’s really starting ta freak me out.” Daxter frowned at the remnants of his sandwich as if it would provide inspiration. “He’s [i]Jak[/i]. He’s supposed ta be cool, and strong, and awesome, and… and… and know it!” He viciously nibbled the crust in contemplation. “He’s not supposed ta be all sad and lost and pathetic. Y’know, Tessy, I wanted to just grab him by the scarf, slam him down on that sofa, and kiss him stupid.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, a smile twitching her whiskers. “Oh you did, did you?”

“Yeah. Kiss the dope until he just shuts up and listens when I tell him he’s awesome. That’d teach him!”

A smirk smoldered on her muzzle. “Maybe it would.”

Daxter was reaching for another sandwich when her words brought him up short. “Wait, really?” He looked at her anxiously, food forgotten. “You think that’s a good idea?”

She shrugged delicate shoulders philosophically. “Well, we’ve tried just about everything else. Maybe a little physical reassurance that we value him, no matter how big or strong he is, could be just what he needs.”

He licked the crumbs from his whiskers nervously, heartbeat already speeding at the thought of actually carrying through with what he had assumed to be a crazy idea and feeling again, after so long, Jak’s lips on his own. “So, what do we do? Go back up and flirt some more?”

Tess rubbed her fuzzy chin in thought. “Jak’s put up with teasing from you for a decade. He'll never assume we're serious." She drove a fist into her opposite palm firmly, determination glinting in her eyes. "We may have to get more direct."

"M-more direct?" He wrung his paws. "I dunno..." What if they got more direct and Jak turned them down flat? How would he look his best pal in the eye after that?

"Awww, my poor little whiskerpuss, are you nervous?" She caressed his shoulder.

"Nervous? You kiddin’? I'm just lookin' out for Jak." He crossed his spindly arms and hid behind a smirk. "You know what a chicken he can be."

~ ~ ~

Jak had a nice buzz going by the time he heard the returning pawsteps in the hall outside. A double pitter-patter announced Tess as well as Daxter, and Jak stuck his muzzle eyes-deep under a cushion. Couldn’t a guy mope in peace?

Apparently not, as the door opened almost immediately to admit his best friend’s black button nose. “Hey, Jakkie-boy, are ya still awake? Can we come in?”

While he really just wanted to be left alone to make poor life choices he would regret in the morning, he knew the chances of that happening before the ottsel couple had been reassured of his well-being were slim. With a longing glance at his vodka, Jak sighed and leaned over to place the bottle back on the floorboard. “Yeah, I’m still awake. Come on in.”

The pair snuck in without having to be invited twice. With a conspiratorial glance between them, they made straight for the sofa. In moments, Jak was between them instead.

The greenish ottsel sighed. “Look, guys, I know you’re worried about me, but I’m fine. Really. I just want to be by myself for a while. Nothing personal.” Being around them right now when he still felt so tender and misplaced inside was a worse idea than getting drunk. He'd never been good with words and didn't want the tangle of feelings inside to come out as words he'd regret.

Daxter crossed his arms in challenge. “Really, Jak? Is being alone really what you want?” When his mouth opened in answer, a swift paw muffled his reply. “Shh, Jak, the Precursor is speaking. Tessy an’ I have been doing some talkin’ and… well… we just wanna tell ya…” Dax fiddled with a glove nervously, eyes darting from Jak to Tess to empty air. “Tess an’ I just wanna make sure you know that we care about ya. Like, a lot. Like, a lot, lot.”

“And?” Tess prompted gently. She smiled wider as her snugglemuffin searched for the words.

Jak raised a lime green brow at his stammering friend. Something weird was going on here, but for the life of him he felt like he was missing what it was. Maybe the vodka had been even less brilliant an idea than he had first thought.

“Aaaaand, since we care about ya so much, and since we wanna let ya know just how much, and since ottsels really shouldn’t sleep alone…” Daxter began to lean forward, slowly invading Jak’s personal space, a determined set to his jaw.

Jak leaned backwards without thinking to compensate for the shrinking space between them, then jumped as he felt Tess move in to hug him from behind. For a moment he recalled their sneak attack at the bar the first night he had felt so low, how he had been caught in an ottsel sandwich, and part of him jumped at the chance to feel so enveloped again just as another part of him sent up a warning signal that something was still not right here.

Tess purred. Her voice quivered just a little, equal parts excitement and anxiety. “What Daxxie is trying to say, Jak, is that we think you should sleep with us.”

"Sleep with you?" He blinked, confused. "Yeah, I have been. Almost every night for weeks."

Daxter gave a nervous snicker. "That's not exactly what we mean, Jakkie-boy."

It took a moment for what they were actually suggesting to register. When it did, Jak was struck dumb. It had to be the liquor, making his silly ottsel ears hear things. He shook his head to clear them. No one was that calm, that understanding, let alone two of them at the same time. Why invite possible competition into your relationship—?

Her hands stroked his hips as they closed the last of the space between them, engulfing him in a warm embrace. Daxter's rubbed the small of his back, just above Tess' bare, fluffy midriff that was pressed against him so invitingly. Shocked to utter stillness, Jak could feel the cheeky grin against his ear.

The shorter ottsel's breath breezed hot through green fluff. "I think he might need a little convincing, Tessy-babe."

Jak stammered out half a question.

Then a soft muzzle pressed against his. Sharp but gentle teeth nipped his ear from behind, accompanied by the playful but comforting giggles and coos of a lovely lady ottsel.

With effort, Jak pulled his lips away from the other male's. "Wait. H-hang on. What about Tess?"

Daxter only grinned and kissed him again, and his friend's tongue was so warm and soft against his own that Jak couldn't bring himself to fight it. This time Daxter pulled back, slipping his muzzle along Jak's cheek to whisper in his ear, accompanied by a slow, lazy grind of hips on furry hips. "Whose idea'd ya think this was?"

A pleased chuckle echoed from the female ottsel. "I did say 'us'..."

Why had Daxter followed him to Kras to race, even when Tess remained in Haven? Why had Tess not only offered no protest, but had wholeheartedly understood—even encouraged him to stay on the green-blonde's shoulder? Why had she never grown jealous at their obvious closeness, and never would? It all started to make sense.

Jak couldn't help it. He began to purr quietly, a soft rumble of a sound against Daxter's collarbone.

"Yeah." Dax snickered. "Yeah, I thought so."

The smug tone in that lazy, loving voice made Jak smile… before he bit the orange shoulder so invitingly displayed. Smart-ass. Dax yelped comically as Tess's giggle muffled itself in the back of Jak's neck.

Maybe this would work out after all.

“So, you in on this tonight, or do ya need a couple days to let it sink in?” Daxter asked, pulling back to meet Jak’s eyes. “We don’t wanna push ya too fast if you’re not comfortable yet. Besides, I clearly tasted some vodka goin’ on there. I gotta say, never thought I’d be the one askin’ you if you’re too drunk for somethin’, pal.”

“No!” Jak blurted in alarm. His claws dug reflexively into the fur of Daxter’s upper arms before the other ottsel could draw away; his tail wrapped urgently around Tess’s leg. “I mean, yes! I mean-- no, I’m not too drunk. Yes, to… that other thing you asked.” His hot ears fell in uncertainty. “Just… don’t leave.”

Tess hugged him tighter. “Oh, sweetie, of course we won’t!”

“Wouldn’t entertain the thought,” Daxter confirmed, leaning closer again to complete the ottsel triad once more. “But, in that case, why don’t we move this cuddle puddle somewhere that ain’t the spare sofa? No offense to your man cave, Jakkie-boy.”

~ ~ ~

The mattress felt soft and cozy. Soft, cozy, and small. Amazing how the three of them fit in the little double bed, in the small room above the Naughty Ottsel. But lately things that seemed too amazing to be true had a way of falling into place.

Tess slipped into bed with Jak and Daxter. The sheets swept cool under her paw pads as hot kisses rained down on her from the other two ottsels. Their undiluted affections intoxicated her. In a moment of bravery, she reached down to grip both their crotches at once. Through the fabric, she felt their growing arousal.

Jak gasped and shivered under her paw.

Darkness hid Daxter's grin, but she could hear it in his voice. The little hornball: he was enjoying every second of this.

With nimble paws, she relieved Jak of his underpants. His darling pink shaft bobbed up for a cheery hello, accompanied by a pair of pastel yellow balls.

The tipsy ottsel stammered, shocked, but his best friend soon covered up any concerns with another kiss. He failed around a little, then sank back into biddable enjoyment. His tail swished and curled against her.

Daxter, with typical modesty, belly-danced out of his jeans and underwear while running a paw down his pal's stomach. The familiar length of his shaft shone in the moonlight, with a particular gleam of precum at the very tip.

"Ooooh..." She cooed in appreciation and sat up between their legs for a better view. Maybe now her boys could resolve a little sexual tension. Maybe Jak could quit being a ball of angsty fluff. Maybe they needed a little help. She didn't want to spook him, though, so she snuck out of her clothes and cuddled close for a few tender moments before she reached over to grip them both.

The boys yielded a pair of whimpers. Lost in her grasp, they thrashed in wonder against the pillows. Neither showed any hesitation; quite the opposite—both Precursors seemed utterly swept up in the moment.

She stroked their sheaths faster. Sensual as the situation was, she couldn't get over how adorable their balls were, bouncing gleefully with her every tug. She rolled pressure down her fingers, then back up, coaxing the boys ever closer to orgasm.

Eyes half-lidded with pleasure, the green-furred ottsel watched the action through a haze of sensation. His muzzle hung agape, as if he couldn't believe what was finally happening.

Daxter squeaked and shuddered. His curvy hips jerked against her grasp. A generous jet of ottsel semen spurted over her wrist and fingers. Another blast followed, then another, the heat soaking into her fur, then just soaking her fur.

"Ooooh, somebody was turned on." She giggled, lifting the hand for examination. The pearly liquid shone in the scant light of a city night. Its heady musk titillated her ottsel instincts. She turned her attention to the other ottsel, lowering her paw to let him catch a wiff. "You turned on too, Jak?"

The greenish ottsel tried to assemble a reply, but faltered as her other paw closed around his shaft, still wet with fresh cum. A whimper of lust squeaked from his muzzle as she spread the fresh spunk up and down his naked erection. "Oh man, Tess!"

The female ottsel just smiled and climbed into position behind him. From there, she could more easily stroke him with her cum-slicked hand. She could feel him pulse harder in her hand, though, no matter how fast she stroked, she couldn't push him over the edge. So she decided to cheat a little. She and Daxter had discovered a few sweet spots in common, so she used her free paw to scratch along the base of his tail, while nibbling at his scruff. All the while, her paw pads danced over his virgin flesh and teased his sac and the edge of his sheath.

That did it.

His cock pulsed hard in her slick grip. Gasping a wordless exultation, the Universe's newest ottsel arced against her and climaxed in her grasp. His seed mingled with his best friend's, leaving her already slippery hand a sticky mess. Shots of ottsel cum came rapid-fire, dripping to the sheets as Daxter ogled the scene. As the surges subsided, he relaxed to a panting pool of Precursor afterglow. Once breath returned to him, Jak lay touching his little paws together, looking a little overwhelmed.

"Ya need a hug, Jak?" Dax nuzzled in close to him. "'Cause we got plenty to go around."

The hero of Haven City offered only a shy nod.

Her boys were adorable, she had to admit, but watching their orgasms had left her with a rather pressing need of her own. Or rather, a pulsing, wringing, slippery one. Finding a nice angle to grind against the base of her new lover's tail, she bucked against him with increasing urgency. Hearing their moans, she traced a paw down to finger her insistent clit. Little circles of motion radiated joy through her body, tipping her into an orgasm she hasn't realized lingered so close. A chitter of delight vibrated her muzzle as her hips bucked. Ecstasy rocked her limber form. As it faded to a buzz of residual loveliness, she rubbed tender lips against the now-slick fur of his tail base.

Already half-drunk when they'd started, Jak seemed utterly discombobulated. He buried his little muzzle in the fluff of Daxter's chest. Moments after she stopped sliding around, he had conked out in a drooly slumber.

With a shared smirk of victory, she and Daxter snuggled in around him. Soft fur interleaved, rich scents mingled, as their dreams wove tighter together than they'd ever thought possible. All cuddled up and tingly, she too soon tumbled off into sleep, dreaming of all the fun times to come.

~ ~ ~

Another chapter! Somewhat delayed by three projects I needed to turn in for publication. Let me know what you think!

Art: Zetht  
Art touch-up: Tempo (with permission)  
Edits: Slate

Let us know what you think!

~ Tempo & Sillyneko


	8. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An eager ottsel couple shows Jak what he's been missing. Meanwhile, battle plans are also laid.

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 7  
By Tempo & Sillyneko

Jak blinked against the dawn light and squirmed against the bedcovers. A dried stickiness tugged at the fur of his crotch. He looked down. To either side, naked ottsel bodies nestled against him. His fur lay mussed with ottsel seed. As he shifted, a lingering tenderness traced through his cock. 

Exactly what had he gotten up to last night? The fading throb of a hangover reminded him how the night started: in the bar. From there, he remembered being ambushed by amorous ottsels and…

His eyes shot wide against the blinding light of morning. He'd kissed them. Sweet Precursors, he'd done a lot more than that. 

A sinuous furry form slipped against his shoulder to nibble his jawline. 

The hero flailed into an stifled eep.

Daxter groaned into his cheek ruff, voice soft. "I can hear yer brain cookin' from here. Ya doin' okay?" 

Jak blinked. "Headache."

The orange ottsel rolled over and rattled a bottle of aspirin from a bedside drawer. He returned with a pill and a sloshing half-glass of water. 

Jak studied the glass through bleary vision and dawnlight. "How long has that been there?"

A grin entered his smarmy voice. "I could give ya something else to swallow, Jakster."

Taking the glass with a grunt, the blond popped the tablet and sipped the dusty water. He'd never thought about it, but his new body probably didn't need a big dose of anything to feel the effects. Mulling over the overdose of drama he'd taken in the past few weeks, he handed the empty tumbler back.

"So yeah, last night happened." After putting the cup back on the nightstand, he slid a paw down around Jak's fuzzy tummy. "You're ours. Get used to it, go back to sleep, or lemme groom you."

"I don't know about all this…" Jak's whisper floated through the half-grey light of sunrise. "What if I screw up your relationship?" 

"I do; ya won't." The other ottsel sighed. "You've been in this thing since the beginning, but with none a' the perks."

"But this is more than just fooling around." His hand drifted down to curl over his friend's elbow. "I mean, I'd thought about you guys, but this..."

"It's okay ta want this. You deserve a little happiness. And we deserve a little you." A quiet chuckle stirred his neck fur. "We'll work out the fiddly details as we go. That's how this junk works."

On his stomach, Tess jostled, basically draped across him. He noticed his hand between her legs and didn't dare move it.

"But Dax..."

Daxter nuzzled into a soft kiss as his ears dipped under the weight of a blush. The press of delicate ottsel lips against his felt so natural, so easy. 

Jak wanted it never to end, wanted to stay bundled up in a loving ottsel tangle, wanted to be everything for these two people who were so wonderful to him. 

His lifelong friend drew back, smirking even as a blush lit his ears. "That answer yer questions?" 

The world's newest ottsel nodded. With no objections left, they sank into comfortable silence, then into happy dreams.

~ ~ ~

Awaking in his friend's embrace, Jak drifted back to consciousness. He looked to his bedmates. A bright sunbeam painted the colorful bedspread, warming three shades of equally colorful fur. Jak was hard pressed to hold back a purr—the sound was still foreign in his throat, and tickled when he tried. Heh. It was kind of funny in a way. A bed almost too small for one human woman seemed a palatial nest to three ottsels; staying nestled in it so late into the morning, entirely decadent.

A soft chuckle arose near Jak's ear. His head was tucked under Daxter's chin, those scrawny wrapped arms around his waist. Tess' chin rested on Jak's shoulder, her arms hugging his middle right above Daxter's. In a literal hero sandwich, the green-blonde ottsel couldn't deny the embraces anchored him to this time more than anything had in the past. Between his old best friend and his new girlfriend, he got the message at last:

We love you.

We want you.

You're safe with us.

In silence, a delicate paw drifted to caress his half-mast erection, then to Daxter's. Tess wiggled to wakefulness. "Mmmmm. Morning, boys."

~ ~ ~

A sleepy grin spread across Tess's muzzle as she groped her boys. Lucky her, getting two adorable and hunky guys all to herself. A few years ago, she never would've believed it. And, best of all, they loved her as much as she did them. 

Dax stirred with a sleepy scoff, but pressed his hips toward her grasp. "Startin' early." 

"Hey, I'm not the early riser here." She slipped her other paw from under Jak's back to around his cock. With a planet-wide hero in each paw, she stroked their sheaths and admired every cute little noise she could extract from them. Jak's was straighter and thicker, while Daxter's had more length and more of a curve. She decided both of them were perfect. Before long, two little glimmers of precum shone in the morning sunshine.

"So, um…" The greenish ottsel ran a paw over his ears. "Where do we start?"

"Oh, I have an idea…" A hungry grin spread across Tess's muzzle. "…or two. Scoot together. I wanna see those fuzzy balls touch." 

Daxter pulsed a little further from his sheath and hurried toward his pal. 

Jak blushed hard, but swelled even harder. His sheepish hips tilted to allow the other male ever closer.

She guided their legs and tails to interweave. Once both had their dicks within range, her paws curled around their creamy-furred sheaths. Gentle strokes coaxed them harder and bounced their sacs together. As arousal thundered through her veins, she leaned their tips together, letting bare ottsel cocks slide together for the first time in recorded history. 

Both of her boys winced with pleasure, though Daxter's soon became a moan. The other ottsel grit his teeth, a crystalline bead of precum collecting at his opening. It gleamed in the light and spread as she rubbed their naked flesh together, a tantalizing sheen that made her mouth water. The faint musk of the males blended to draw her irresistibly closer, closer.

Her tongue curled around the familiar contours of Dax's cock head first. His lovely texture greeted her, as did a slight swell of arousal, followed by a fresh trickle of hot liquid. Then, almost by accident, she licked around to Jak's. His taste warmed her mouth: salty, exotic, but somehow familiar. She decided in that instant that, like many great flavors, she liked them even better together. Her mouth bobbed on Jak's delicate shaft, slurping up its length, tongue tracing around him as she kissed his sheath. Then, a thin strand of saliva still connecting her to the virgin's cock, she repeated the maneuver on Daxter. 

A tender paw caressed her shoulder, brushing back her long, blonde hair. From the corner of her eye, she saw the orange ottsel watching with an egotistical grin from where he'd propped himself up on the pillows.

Jak, meanwhile, dared only shy little glances at their shared blowjob. 

With infinite care, her claw tips traced the edge of their sheaths, then down to explore their balls. Jak's seemed larger and a little less round, but that could just be from them being somewhat on top of Daxter's. She resolved to check more in the future. For the moment, she swirled her tongue between their tips, then took both deep to savor the feel of two eager dicks in her muzzle.

Careful to keep his cock in her mouth, Jak edged his upper body closer to Dax's, every movement jostling that ottsel member against his and over her tongue. His deep blue eyes watched pleasure play out on the face of his best friend, his boyfriend. 

Daxter placed a paw on Jak's shoulder. As it traced up the side of his neck, their eyes met. A welcoming smile shone between them, distracted now and then by a well-placed suckle. He ruffled Jak's mop of green hair and ample ears. 

Their muzzles met, whiskers mingling like the long-denied dreams they were living out. The kisses came chaste at first, just little pecks, but soon deepened. Then the tongues came into play. 

Both lovers gasped into each other's mouths as Tess bobbed her head and sucked. Air crept in between their shafts, so she had to press them tighter together and closed her lips tighter to make a seal. As lovely and warm as they felt in her muzzle, having them together like this, pleasuring the two males she loved, warmed her heart all the more. 

Delicate male paws traced each other's pelts. Hind paws stroked along each other under her stomach. Jak's tail lashed against the bedsheets. Dax's, however, arched up to stroke her slit with mischievous purpose. He knew she was watching and could feel the wetness of her arousal. Supple fur brushed her naked folds. It reminded her of their first times together, before she was even an ottsel, when that tail and balls would massage her entrance as his cute ottsel dick dumped load after load into her. It felt wonderful. But she refused to let it distract her from sucking her boyfriends off.

She lapped up their sleek lengths, then slurped back down. Together, their girths almost seemed too much for her dainty muzzle, but sheer determination made them fit. A matched pair of cock heads pressed to the back of her throat, throbbing precum. A reflexive swallow squeezed them together.

Daxter shivered. The first gush of heat rushed against the roof of her mouth. No sooner had she swallowed in surprise than he surged again, the heat coating her mouth. It slicked Jak's shaft in an instant. The taller ottsel squeaked in orgasm, but his boyfriend muffled it with a deep, loving kiss. Just as one ottsel's shots of seed ebbed, the other jetted thick cream against her soft palate.

With greedy suckles and gulps, she milked each with one paw. Their salty-sweet juices mingled on her tongue in a rich dance of male flavor. Her paw cupped their twitching balls together, arousal surging through her lithe body with every swallow. Sucking Daxter off when she had been human had been fun and tasty, but ottsel pheromones now got her as sticky as the cum dripping down her chin. 

The boys softened, drained, on her tongue. She pulled off. Seeing their cocks limp and adorable together, she gave each a loving kiss on the head. As both saviors of the planet moaned for her, Tess knew she was the luckiest girl on it. 

He and Jak looked up from their make-out session, love in their hazy blue eyes, their hair a tousled mess around shaky ears. Her heart skipped with glee.

Daxter noticed her radiating happiness and turned a wobbly smile on her. "That was amazin', Tessie-kins."

Jak nodded slowly from where he had sprawled, boneless and speechless with awe in his unfocused eyes.

She puffed with pride as she crawled up between them. "So not too bad for our hero's first time?"

The greener ottsel huffed in disbelief. "Tess, that was…wow. Perfect."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Daxter nuzzled under her chin with a purr of contentment, but the tell-tale shift of lithe hips gave away his quickly renewing interest. "Now, I think it's high time our lovely lady got her share of the action. What'll it be, sweet-cheeks? Tongue bath? Tessie sandwich? Oooh, I know! Bet you'd like ta take the Jak Machine for a test drive, wouldn't ya?"

She cast the suddenly flushing hero a playful wink. "Well, I'd be lying if I said no. Are you up for it, Jak?"

"Um." He glanced down at his slick pink shaft, already nearly halfway back out of its sheath. Soft ears lay back in embarrassment. "Looks like I am now." He looked beseechingly to his best friend. "Is this a normal ottsel thing?"

Tess giggled. He was just too cute.

Daxter loosed a slightly evil cackle. "Congratulations, Jakkie-boy, you just discovered one of the very best parts of being an ottsel. If I told ya how many times we can go in an hour you wouldn't believe me, so I'll just let you see for yourself." He punched Jak playfully on the shoulder. "So what do you think, pal? Wanna show Tessie how much you liked your first blowjob?"

Though still pink in the ears, he nodded resolutely. "Definitely." Jak had always been a go-getter; it was no surprise he would be the same in bed, given a little patience and praise from his newly christened lovers.

"That's the spirit, big guy!" Dax cheered. "And don't worry; I'll be right here watchin' if you need pointers."

Tess rolled her eyes with a fond smile. If their boyfriend wanted a show, she was sure she and Jak could provide. "So, Jak. Do you think you could pick me up?"

He blinked at her confusedly. "Pick you up? Of course I could. I've hoisted guns a lot heavier than you."

"Excellent. Follow me!" 

Tess stood. A scritch under that little beard tempted Jak to trail her to the headboard. She had always fantasized about having a guy pick her up and pound her against the wall. Daxter was an attentive and…enthusiastic lover, but he wasn't exactly buff. Jak, though, had remained a hunk even in ottsel form. With a grin of anticipation, she leaned in for a deep kiss.

As their tongues toyed with each other, Jak shuddered, no doubt tasting his own salty musk, and that of his lifelong friend. 

She lifted his paws to her breasts and showed him how to play with her pert nipples.

Smiling dreamily, Daxter lay on his stomach, feet kicking into the air as he watched the action like his own personal porno. 

"Okay, you can pick me up now."

The larger ottsel lifted her obligingly. As he had claimed, the movement was fluid and as effortless as it had been when he was human, picking his ottsel companions up for a shoulder ride.

Tess settled against his bigger frame blissfully, the latent ottsel instincts she was usually able to keep buried glorying in the display of strength from her new partner. Daxter had the speed, Jak had the sheer power, and she had seen how well the two worked in tandem. While her rational brain and emotional heart declared her love for the boys in question, her inner critter chittered simple approval at the excellence of her choice in mates.

A shift from him, a squirm on her part, and his hot hardness rubbed her impatiently waiting folds. She cooed encouragement as his back and ears stiffened, his hands momentarily digging into her fur where they supported her as he fought the immediate urge to thrust.

"Is this okay?" he managed to grunt.

She purred, trailing her claw tips through the sleek fur at the back of his shoulders. "Perfect."

He hardened further against her slit. Tess took a moment to savor that perk of Precursor physiology: a reload time that would make a machine gun blush. With a last loving caress, she reached down and guided him closer against her soft folds. 

His gruff voice timid and still nervous, the greenish ottsel gave her a shy and somehow vulnerable look. "You know I… I've never..."

"Shh, don't worry about that. Just enjoy." Her heart pattered in her chest as clumsy, but ever more determined, thrusts teased her entrance. "You want this, right?" Heat glowed in her ears. "Want me?"

"Yeah..." His words faded to a sweet little whimper of longing. He bit his lower lip as the underside of his shaft rubbed her slick heat.

"We both want ya, Jak." Moving swift and silent, Daxter slunk up Jak's back to caress his furry chest. Tess's raised calf felt his hard length rub the underside of his best pal's tail. "Not the hero, not the badass, just the guy we love." One paw slipped down to Jak's sheath and angled him back to tender, swollen lips. 

The first centimeter slipped inside, welcomed by hot, wet need. Tess and Jak squeaked in unison, burying noses in each other's neck fur. Over his shoulder, muzzle to her muzzle, Daxter flashed a lewd grin as he guided his friend deeper by the sheath. 

The female ottsel squirmed further onto her new lover, tail arching against the headboard. Her ankles crossed over his tail, spreading further open, easing that lovely penetration. Muscles fluttering up his girth, she clutched at his shoulders. "Oh Jak..."

"She's the best, isn't she, buddy?" The naughty ottsel leaned forward, whispering in his friend's ear as any lingering vestiges of virginity vanished with every inch. "And she loves yer cock just as much as I do."

With a blissful keen, Jak closed his eyes and nuzzled her throat. His purr rumbled against her, setting a tremble to her whiskers. 

"Ahh..." Tess looked down, seeing that deep pink shaft thrusting deeper. A shiver of lust telegraphed down her supple spine, from the twitch of her whiskers to the grip of her toes in Daxter's belly fur. The orange mustelid's lips met hers and sent her mind reeling. 

She giggled giddily into the kiss. A girl could get used to this.

~ ~ ~

Jak gasped at the sensation of moist heat clutching his arousal from all sides. His breath caught short when he thought too hard about what he was doing and with whom, but loving claws trailed through his fur, churrs as soft as ottsel fluff reassuring him. 

Tess kissed at one ear; Dax nibbled at the other. A firm length snuck under his tail, prodding the back of his balls and leaking. A hot, slick passage beckoned him deeper. Their bodies swathed him in fluff and affection. He belonged here. Here, he didn't have to be a big, tough hero. In their embrace, he could just be an inexperienced kid learning how amazing it felt to be naked and wanted with the two people he loved most. 

The scent of his friends —his lovers, now— stoked a fire within him more fearsome than all the colors of eco combined. The taste of his own cum, familiar yet muskier, only heightened his arousal. His new body responded to them with fresh instincts, rocking his hips up into the moaning female. He thrusted faster. A shudder escaped his muzzle as he hilted in her. He pressed her hard against the headboard, knocking it along the wall. 

"That's it! Yes!" Her tail lashed the worn wood, driving him deeper inside her as her claws sank deeper into his shoulder fur. "Sweet Precursors, Jak! Harder!"

His climax hit like a desert monsoon in Spargus: sudden and furious, flooding her passage as jet after sticky white jet sprayed her walls, running down his throbbing length to drip down his sheath. Fresh cum dribbled, obscene and erotic, down the underside of her tail to soak his balls.

Daxter's arm shook behind him, bumping his hot tip into Jak's fur. With a long groan, he shivered and clutched his best friend's tail. Several shots of liquid heat spattered against his exposed entrance.

Dazed as he was by orgasm, the greenish ottsel blushed under his fur at the cum running down from his tailhole to slick the other side of his ball sack. He nuzzled into Tess's neck with a shy squeak. 

His teenage crush collapsed atop him, pressing his softening cock deep into their girlfriend's folds and coaxed out a renewed trickle of juices. Daxter's tongue lolled out in bliss. 

Tess and Jak exchanged a little smirk at his inelegance. But then, she hadn't minded his clumsiness either. Minutes passed, marked only by their rushed breathing. 

~ ~ ~

Daxter's tender cock throbbed against the sticky pelts of his lovers. He'd planned to bury that load in Jak's backside, but now his hard-on was perking right back up. And he'd thought being a teenager was bad...

His lovely girlfriend shifted, slipping out from the ottsel pile. "I should probably go wash up..." She backed up against the pillow, legs splayed wide, delicate pink lips leaking thick white jizz. 

He rocked back to his knees, tipping Jak up by the tail. "Actually, babe, could ya just sit there a sec?"

She looked up, a little uncertain. "Like this?"

The greenish ottsel propped up on his arms and looked blearily forward. "Dax what—?"

With a lecherous grin, Daxter eased Jak's surprised muzzle forward into Tess's dripping slit. 

Jak's eyes shot wide, then narrowed to hazy slits as he lost himself in allure of ottsel pheromones. That strong jaw worked as he extended his tongue to lap at the folds he'd just coated with spunk.

"Mmmmm…" Tess's hips rocked as she reached to spread her outer lips. “Somebody’s jumping into the deep end.”

Savoring a wicked chuckle, Daxter worked the stiff tip of his dick against Jak's slippery entrance. Ottsels were stretchy little creatures, but he still took his time sinking in. As his sheath kissed that ring of muscle, the orange ottsel shuddered and hugged that thick tail. He'd waited years to get some Jak tail; totally worth the wait. 

After a moan of concern, Jak purred into Tess's super-slippery slit. His blue eyes closed in pleasure. A wave of relaxation and trust ran through his body. 

The female ottsel pressed her teeth against her lower lip. Her dainty hands stroked Jak's long, silky ears. Her pretty little toes spread, then curled at the sensations. 

Dax thrusted, gently at first, but building to enough force that his balls bounced. He gripped the other ottsel's hips and rocked him backward onto his length. As his sheath got pushed back by Jak's tight ass again and again, he panted in pleasure. It felt good —freakin' amazing— but the best part was doing it to Jak, and knowing that his every thrust buried the kid's muzzle in Tess's luscious ottsel cream pie. 

He humped faster, tingles of pleasure racing up his cock to radiate through the rest of his body. His fingers clutched at Jak's fur, his face shoved into the underside of his tail. His length jerked inside that grip of flesh and slickness, the first shot of his orgasm tracing up from his balls to spurt deep into his best friend. With a cry of ecstasy and victory, Dax claimed Jak's ass in the name of the Daxter Factor. 

As he collapsed into a shivering heap of sticky glory, he was faintly aware of Tess giggling at the two of them as she slipped off the bed. 

As she dropped to the floor and padded off, he might have heard her say: "Okay, now I really need to wash up."

~ ~ ~

Tess finished toweling off on the edge of the tub. Her body still brimmed with sensation: even the cool sleekness of the bathtub under her paw pads seemed luxurious. She hopped to the floor and wrapped a hand towel around her hair. Sex, a nice long shower, and now blueprints were swirling in her head: this was shaping up to be a great morning. 

She padded across the hallway and into the bedroom. Atop the bed, Jak lay on his back, legs up in the air and giving the occasional twitch. Daxter snoozed atop him. Once in a while, one or the other would nuzzle closer or heave a contented little sigh. 

She leaned against the doorway. So this is what her life would look like from now on: unchecked adorableness interspersed with orgasms. Her teenage self never would've dared to dream this is how her life would turn out. She slipped out of the room and skipped down the stairs.

Once in the kitchen, she made some toast, with strawbana jam, and headed to the back room and began work on a massive bomb. 

~ ~ ~

A couple hours later, Jak tramped, yawning, downstairs and wandered in the direction of breakfast. As he rummaged around the kitchen, he could hear Tess tinkering with something in her workshop. He switched on the coffee maker. 

Sitting at the bar, Jak munched on some cereal with yakow milk; of all the advances civilization had made since his childhood, the move from porridge to cereal was near the top of his list. It was a really simple solution, but it made so much sense. And as simple as Dax made their new relationship sound, he may be right. They weren't losing anything from their friendship, just adding nice things. And Tess. Whom he was already friends with anyway.

He smiled at himself. Here he was, the morning after losing his virginity, getting all philosophical over a bowl of Zoomer-O's. Daxter would laugh at him.

The ottsel in question meandered downstairs a few minutes later. His fur stuck up in several directions, though he'd at least put on a bathrobe. He shambled to the bar, clambered onto a stool, and dumped some cereal into Jak's recently-emptied bowl. 

Jak considered several ways of bringing up last night. Nothing seemed to do it justice. The greenish ottsel crossed his arms and settled on: “What're we gonna tell Samos?”

A burst of noon light flooded the dim barroom. On cue, the sage himself appeared through the front door. “Yes, what are you going to tell Samos?”

"Whaaaa!" Daxter clutched his pink dressing gown around his scrawny body and hid behind the blond ottsel. “Jak! He's learned to teleport in when ya speak his name!”

Jak snickered. 

"Oh save it, you thistle sprouts." The squat sage banged his walking stick on the floor. "I'm here because everybody in town found out about your little transformation before me."

At the old man's heel, Jak's crocodog trotted in. The creature hurried over to Jak, sniffed him twice, then plunked down to pant at him with devotion. From the bar stool, he patted the critter on the head. 

"Sorry, Samos." He rubbed the scruff of his neck. "Things've been a little crazy since I changed."

"Frankly, I'm surprised he noticed, considering he transforms into somethin' new every ten seconds." Daxter waved a paw. "But, yeah, go ahead and mock him, just like ya did me."

"I'm not here to belittle Jak's new form. After all, the Precursors themselves tried to change him into this." He jabbed a gnarled finger in the orange ottsel's direction. "You on the other leaf, Daxter, need your ego deflated at every opportunity."

"Hey!" Daxter scowled.

Jak grinned at his boyfriend. "You know you're a Precursor now, right? And he's just a sage? You're technically a lot more powerful than he is."

Samos glared. 

"Hey, that's right!" Daxter leaned over Jak's shoulder. “You can start worshipping us any time, loghead.”

The sage scoffed at the notion. “I have no intention of worshipping anyone who fled my house in the middle of bathtime and ran around the village naked.”

The ottsel winced. 

“He’s got ya there, Dax." The greenish ottsel looked back at his companion. "Maybe you’d have better luck with the monks.”

“Oh no: I just spent the whole morning talking the monks out of trying out that gadget you found in the ruins." A bird flew out of the sage's hair and fluttered to perch atop his walking stick. "They only listened because I told them how you’d already been chosen to be one of the mighty and infinitely wise Precursors.”

"That's probably for the best." Jak hooked a thumb toward his fellow ottsel. "Daxter'd pout if he wasn't special anymore."

"Hey! I'm special. I'm the original." Dax crossed his arms. “Anybody else is just a copyottsel.”

Samos cleaned the various lenses of his spectacles on his shirt with a harrumph. "Jak, you just let me know when you get tired of the bar and need somewhere else to stay."

Dax puffed up indignantly.

For a moment, Jak considered breaking the news of his new relationship to the sage too. The guy deserved to know, especially after finding out about the new fuzzy chapter in his life second-hand. But no. Someone else deserved to know even before Samos.

He had to tell Keira.

~ ~ ~

A few hours later, Jak and the rest of the ottsel trio wandered into Keira's workshop. The racing zoomers sat forgotten, some clearly mid-assembly. He cleared his throat, a sound which which didn't seem too high anymore. "Hello?"

Clad in goggles, gloves, and a grease-stained apron, Keira greeted them with an absent "hey..." without looking up from swirling various beakers of eco.

The ottsels padded over to her workbench. Tess shook her foot after stepping in a grease puddle.

Jak leaned against the leg of the worktable and looked up. "Progress?"

Daxter hopped up on a stool and snatched a glowing object from among the equipment. "Oooh, what's this doohickey?"

"That—" She took the pyramid of luminous material away from his eager orange paws. "—is a solid eco crystal. The Precursors use them to power some of their larger machines. The only problem is..." She squeezed the dropper, letting a drip of eco fall on the crystal. Instantly, it formed into a jagged prong of glowing eco. "...crystals tend to grow." 

Jak took a step back. "Whoa!"

"I've wondered for a long time why the Precursors would bother with dark eco. It's dangerous and unpredictable. At first, I thought it was some kind of byproduct, toxic waste they sealed up to protect the planet. Now, though, I'm starting to think it actually serves a purpose." She took a dropper full of dark eco and applied some to the crystal. The moment the hazy purple fluid touched it, the entire structure crumbled and melted into blobs of various colors on the tray. 

Cocking her hips, the female ottsel crossed her arms. "It breaks down the crystals."

"Exactly." Keira turned from her experiment and crossed her arms over her breasts. "I think the Metal Heads consumed enough of our planet's dark eco that it can't keep the rest from crystallizing. With all the Precursor technology buried in this planet, it was only a matter of time until some old eco crystal acted as a seed."

The greenish ottsel stroked his tiny beard. "How do we fix it?"

"That's the easy part: dark eco. The tough part is making a delivery device." She held up a map of the planet with a hole drawn straight to the center. "Given a few months and enough resources, I can construct a subterranean drill vehicle that can take us—"

"Umm..." Tess raised a paw. "I have a giant eco bomb."

Everyone turned to her. "What?!"

"I made it this morning." She shrugged. "Mostly from parts of one Baron Praxis ordered from Krew."

"And you knew how to rebuild it from the ground up?" Keira asked, looking impressed.

"Well, yeah!" Tess bounced a little. "Krew wasn't very hands-on when it came to actually building weapons. That's why he had me."

Jak’s ears rose in shock. "You built the piercer bombs? The things that almost cracked open the Precursor Stone and blew up the planet?"

"Ya know, that makes a lotta sense." Daxter made little grabby gestures at his fellow ottsels. "Krew always did have weird fat baby-hands."

"I didn't know what they were for. I just worked from Krew's schematics." She shrugged. "It's basically a really big shaped charge for dark eco."

"Well, ya coulda made it harder to disarm them, since yours truly managed it in about five seconds."

"Actually, Daxxie, I left all the wires exposed because I wanted it to be able to be shut down. Battle plans change fast and a weapon's not much good if you can't control it." She patted her boyfriend's shoulder and shrugged. "Krew never really knew much about weapons; he just knew they meant power."

The mechanic crossed her arms and nodded. "I'll start buying up all the dark eco I can get my hands on." 

"Uhh, Keira?" Jak looked at the floor and traced a toe along the concrete. "There's one more thing we should talk about." 

She took off her gloves and goggles to set them on the table. "Is there something else about the eco situation I should know?"

He rubbed the scruff of his neck. "...More like my romantic situation."

Her jaw dropped open. "Oh."

"That's right: Jak's datin' me now." Daxter threw an arm around his new boyfriend's waist. "And you don't get ta be jealous, Little Miss String-Along."

Keira's chin dipped as her eyebrows rose. "Won't Tess be jealous?" Her eyes darted to the third Precursor. 

The female ottsel opened her mouth to reply.

"Why would she be?" Daxter snatched her by the hip, hauling her into the embrace. "He's dating her too. Too bad, so sad."

Keira crouched in front of the trio. "I admit I'm surprised, but… I can't say I'm sad, exactly." Her expression shifted in thought. "So maybe it's for the best." 

Still chilled by the sudden turn in conversation, Jak stammered a little.

She turned to him. "We're still friends, right?"

"Sure." He ran a paw over his blushing ears. "Of course."

"Oh, good." She smiled. "In that case, I've been meaning to ask: can I pet your little ears?"

~ ~ ~


	9. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ottsel trio addresses the eco shortage, though they make a surprising discovery about the effects of dark eco.

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 8  
by Tempo & Sillyneko

The ottsel trio addresses the eco shortage, though they make a surprising discovery about the effects of dark eco.

Note: This is set after Jak X.

~ ~ ~

Weapon fire echoed around Tess as she stood atop the spherical bomb, hitting it with a hammer. While she generally discouraged people she liked from hitting bombs with hammers, this one hadn't lined up just right with the traces of the old mine elevator. They needed the shaped charge to point down when it reached the bottom or it would never reach the crystallized layer of eco far below.

To her left and right, Daxter and Jak blasted Metal Heads. Dax stood atop the hover shuttle they'd used to ferry the bomb here, while his green-haired companion stood on the far side of the bomb.

Jak blasted a skittering stinger into goo, then snapped a fresh clip into his morph gun. "How's that bomb comin', Tess?"

"Uuugh!" Bringing all her strength down in one blow, she clanged the hammer against the stubborn bracket. With a metal ping, it popped onto the elevator's guide rod. She coughed a victorious laugh. "I got it, guys!" With a surge of adrenaline, she tossed the tool aside and unslung the gun from her back. Then the one-ton ball of explosive eco shuddered under her paws. With a yelp of panic, the female ottsel flung herself off the piercer bomb as it dropped from under her. 

A steel clatter of increasing speed echoed up from the mine shaft as the device plummeted. 

Scrambling up from the slime-spattered dust, Tess hit the controller on her belt. A beep signaled that the bomb would detonate on impact. At least that worked right. "Jak! We can totally leave right now!"

He grunted, edging back around the mouth of the elevator shaft. His gun rattled on, unleashing volleys of eco into the gem-faced horrors that clawed out of the ground around him. A week ago, he'd have tripped on his own tail, but now his posture bore the confidence she'd seen time and time again in their fight to free the city. 

Clods of dirt burst up beside her. She sprayed shots into the pod spiders that emerged. Their skull gems shattered with a spray of sparks. 

Daxter popped off a few shots from the top of the air train shuttle before hopping down into the open cockpit and firing up the engines. "I got no problem with you two screwin' around, but could ya do it when we're not over a giant bomb?"

Tess scampered up the door-ramp at the open back of the shuttle. She yanked the remote control from her hip. The small screen flashed through the feet remaining before impact. "Jak!"

The greenish ottsel ducked through the curls of dust rising around the shuttle's engines. An enterprising hopper bounded around the side and clamped metal jaws down on his morph gun. Jerked to a halt by his gun harness, he wrestled the blaster back and forth with the creature for precious fractions of a second before finally unsnapping the weapon.

The shuttle shuddered up, hovering a couple feet above the ground. Tess threw herself prone, reaching an arm off the back of the ramp. In her paw, the countdown flashed from triple digits to doubles—

With a scowl of determination, Jak bounced onto the squat Metal Head and toward her extended hand. 

Her grasp closed around his. She hauled him up enough for his other hand to seize on the edge of the ramp and called over her shoulder. "Hit it, Dax!"

The engines flared to full power. The ground retreated beneath them, a swarm of Metal Heads converging on their former landing site, growing smaller and smaller.

A cheery beep tittered from the remote as it tumbled out the back of the craft. The screen flashed to single digits. 

The mine shaft exploded. 

Light shot in a column from the opening, followed an instant later by a sound so deep it vibrated her whiskers. Along the earth, a shock wave rolled out in all directions, flinging packs of Metal Heads aside like toys in a child's tantrum. The shuttle rocked and threatened to tip. Then, with a crash like the greatest ocean wave, a gurgling geyser of dark eco gushed skyward. Globs of the viscous ichor splattered against the hull, along with the odd crystal of the stuff. 

As the black matter fell around them, it shimmered and twinkled into a wide array of colors. It vaporized into puffs of familiar green, blue, red, and yellow haze, which drifted on the breeze. The eco geyser, still surging upward, shifted in hue and texture, becoming a font of radiant color that danced with the winds like a single great flame. 

"Yahoo! Look at it go!" Dax pumped a fist in the air from the cockpit as eco splattered on the windshield.

Jak, meanwhile, gripped Tess’s paw so hard his claws dug into her pelt.

Laughing, she hauled him up onto the shuttle deck. He tumbled onto her, but he wasn't laughing. In fact, it sounded more like a growl.

Upon patting his flank, her hand came away sticky. She yanked it away, though she found not blood, but a thick layer of dark eco. Tess swallowed, nervous, and glanced to the cockpit. "Daxxie?"

"Yeah, babe, I know: we're awesome." Barely looking back from the controls, her little whisker-puss hit a button and closed the back door of the shuttle, sealing them inside.

Above her, Jak’s eyes gleamed, pure-black orbs set against ashen grey fur. Little crackles of purple energy played along his ears. His teeth nibbled down the side of her neck. 

Her whiskers tingled as residual dark eco trailed down from his cheek ruff.. She cleared her throat. “Daxter, sweetie? Are we clear?”

“You betcha, hot stuff!" His gaze flicked to the rear display. "We’ve got a lovely mushroom cloud in our rear-view, gettin' further away by the second. We'll be sipping cocktails in our own bed by lunchtime.”

Daxter’s voice had gotten Jak’s attention. The transformed ottsel loosened the protective hold he had gotten on Tess enough to twist and glare to the other male with a whimper, clearly torn. 

She cleared her throat. “Actually, snuggle-fluff, I think you’d better find someplace to land.”

The shorter ottsel glanced back. “Whaddya mean—whoa! When’d he go all scary?”

“It was right at the end, there. I think he was working himself up for a daring escape and now he doesn’t know we got away.” She stroked a finger along Jak’s brow, watching anger and worry war on the unnaturally-elongated muzzle. Keeping her voice soft, she spoke to Jak, eyebrows raised meaningfully at Daxter. “Shh, it’s okay, Jak. Everything is all right. Daxter just needs to land the ship and then he can come over here and you won’t have to worry about keeping him safe anymore.”

This was blunt enough for even Daxter to understand. No sooner had the orange male brought the ship to a rough, skidding landing than he was out of his seat, and no sooner was he in grabbing range than powerful arms had yanked him into a possessive embrace. Jak sat on the floor, both his lovers crushed to his chest, eyes locked on the hatch as he growled.

Daxter looked pretty freaked out, but Tess wriggled until her upper body was free and went back to petting the feral male. “Aww, look at him. Poor guy is so scared!” Bending to look him in the strange, wild eyes, she tried hard to project calm and reassurance. “Jak, listen to me, okay? We made it, Jak. We’re all okay.” She held him close, and after a moment those steel cable muscles began to unwind, the labored breathing beginning to slow. “Theeeeere we go. That’s a little better. Daxxie, how long does this usually last?”

“Usually? About as long as he wants it to.” Her other lover was struggling to get the same kind of freedom of movement she’d achieved, but Jak’s grip on his best friend was a little more insistent. “Used to be he could flip it on and off like a light switch. I guess maybe it hits harder in the new body?”

“He didn’t stay transformed long last time." She kept her tone pleasant and soothing. "Should we just wait it out?”

“Last time he wore himself out fighting the bugs, remember? If he’s not with it enough to turn it off on his own, we’re gonna have to find some way for him to burn up all that dark eco, unless we wanna be here all day. And I gotta tell you, I don’t like our odds in a sparring match.”

Tess leaned in to kiss the base of one of Jak’s horns, grinning at the little confused noise it drew from him. “Oh, I think I can come up with a better way.” She lifted Jak’s chin up to kiss him and got to watch the big male’s pupils narrow to slits and snap into focus on her. Acting on instinct, he pushed back against her lips. She returned the pressure, slipping her tongue into his muzzle, feeling his elongated fangs with a thrill as she urged another, older fire up to replace Jak’s battle-frenzy.

“Whoa, Tessie, grabbin’ the stinger by the tail.” Despite the words, Daxter grinned, already caressing Jak’s chest and drawing a pleased rumble from him. “You sure about this, babe? He’s crazy-strong like this, and not exactly with it, you know?”

“Tsk.” Tess pulled her lips from Jak’s to answer, and even that brief privation made the grey ottsel growl and pull her back in. After a moment she managed to escape under the pretense of kissing down along the line of Jak’s chin and throat. “Look at him, Daxter. He loves us so much. He’s not going to hurt us.” The fur on Jak’s neck had gotten longer and thicker, and his altered scent filled her nostrils when she buried her nose in it. “Besides, we just saved, like, the entire world, and I could use some victory sex. Now help me get his clothes off.”

They set upon the poor boy. The half-feral ottsel squirmed and whimpered, bewildered by the sudden change of momentum and unable to decide where to direct his clearly-growing need. With licks and nibbles and teasing caresses, they bounced his attentions between them, keeping him distracted while they slid him out of his battered clothing. Tess felt a surge of giddy anticipation when his straining member came into view, the same way she always did when she knew one of her boys wanted her. She ground her thighs together as wetness welled between them. 

Jak was beginning to get a handle on the situation, pulling both of the smaller ottsels against him, keeping them in kissing range and limiting their ability to tease him. Daxter caught her eye, heavy-lidded and grinning as Jak lavished attention on his narrow chest, purring thunderously. “This… this was your idea, Tessie. You want him first?”

She did. She really did. When next Jak turned his attention to her she rushed to meet him, capturing him in the longest, hottest, deepest kiss she could muster, grinding her suddenly-constraining shorts against that glorious cock as she tugged him down towards the floor.

And Jak, faced at last with a single target for his lusts, pounced.

She fumbled with her top and managed to get the clasp undone just as the fabric was beginning to strain between Jak’s teeth. The garment sprung free to hit the inside of the windshield and fall to the console as his tongue descended on her breasts.

Hot gasps escaped his muzzle, heating her fur. Dax snuck in between them and uncinched her belt. 

She wiggled out of her shorts and kicked them down her tail. Legs spread, she purred a wordless invitation. She massaged his sheath, feeling an unfamiliar bulge. A glance down revealed a swelling at the base of his shaft, throbbing with his heartbeat, eager to be buried in her soft, warm folds.

The sleek head of his cock pressed in, filling her with lovely heat and texture. With a wet sound, he sank fully in, that knot a speed bump on their road to pleasure. His hips bucked to a steady, then an urgent, then a frantic pace. 

With a jostled moan, Tess lay back and let him pound away. Her legs rocked in the air as he thrusted into her. His balls bumped the base of her tail as she reached unsteady fingers down to massage her clit. 

Grasping her shoulders, Jak plowed into the moaning ottsel under him. His ears lay back flat. Each time his cock hilted, he grunted with pleasure as his knot popped inside. Hot juices from them both mixed inside her. 

Tess found herself squeaking in delight every time that bulge of flesh tugged free—until finally it couldn't. Every heartbeat swelled it larger, filled her further. Her hips tied to his by the base of his cock, she felt her tail lift off the deck plating. Desperate paw pads rubbed circles around her clit, faster, faster...

With a series of short, frantic thrusts, Jak jostled his throbbing dick around inside her. That first squirt of heat painted her passage with pleasure. 

Tess cried out in ecstasy. Muscles tensed. Nerves fired wonder through every inch of her body. Breath trailed from her lungs in a protracted yowl of delight. 

Atop her, Jak growled and ground his hips against hers. Wave after wave of thick heat sprayed against her walls as he claimed her as his own. His knot swelled, stretching her to her limit. 

As his thrusts slowed, she, panting, crossed her ankles behind his back. A flicker of vulnerability chased across that toothy muzzle. Through waves of passion, she smiled. 

He buried his muzzle in the fur of her shoulder and thrust as much as he could. In a fierce acceleration of breath, he clutched her close and snarled in bliss. His balls twitched on her tail as fresh blasts surged into her. 

At last, shuddering, she slumped back to the floor. Her passage still fluttering around his knot, she followed the direction of Jak’s gaze. Daxter was slumped against the bulkhead, pants discarded, his eyes squeezed shut, pumping frantically at his sleek pink cock. A glimmer of precum collected at the tip, hidden several times a second by his fuzzy knuckles. A low, yearning sound rose from Jak’s chest and he licked his chops.

Smacking her lips to find her voice again, Tess stretched languidly. “Daxter, sweetie, I think you have something that he wants.”

The masturbating ottsel looked up, ears lifting, just in time to see Jak's powerful paw close around his tail. With a squawk and a flail, he slid across the deck and toward his companions. "Whaaa!"

Eyes gleaming with desire, the ashen-furred ottsel gripped his friend by the thighs and dove between them. His tongue slathered saliva up and down the tender shaft before his lips even closed around it. He sucked with hungry abandon, strong paws toying with delicate furred orbs, squeezing at his sheath.

Daxter's scrawny hands seized the two little nub horns that poked from Jak’s hairline, clutching tight for leverage against the unexpected pleasure. His tail flopped and shook against Tess’s leg as his words failed to materialize. 

Tess gasped at the tug of the cock knotted within her. Her lovers' every movement twisted and turned it against her walls. At first she thought she'd gotten used to his size, but then that heavy bulge of flesh started to slip free. She peeped at the unfamiliar sensation. 

With a foggy look, Daxter glanced her way. Shaky breaths echoed against the bulkheads as Jak sucked off his best friend. Curvy hips rocked back and forth and up against the hungry attentions. Through gritted teeth, he groaned in climax. 

A thick wet noise accompanied Jak pulling free to better lap up the juices running down his friend's sheath and balls. No longer stretched by his lovely girth, Tess’s passage constricted on the double shot of fluid he'd left behind. The brain-muddling musk of sex hung thick in the air. 

Jak prowled halfway to standing, his length stiff and dripping once more. He pounced to where Daxter lay limp and grinning to take him by the tail again.

Dazed and dripping, Tess lay on the deck of the shuttle. Hot ottsel seed leaked from her slit and down her tail base, which had been filled to the brim, first with Jak's cock, then with two climaxes worth of his cum. She watched as the ashen-furred ottsel lifted her snuggle-muffin up by the hips, slamming his cum-slick cock deep into his tailhole. 

"Ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh! Easy, big guy." Daxter squirmed, bumping his tail against Jak's shoulder, fuzzy toes barely touching the deck. Biting his lower lip, he glanced to Tess. "Is it just me, or has he gotten...bigger?"

As unsteady fingertips traced her tender entrance, she nodded. "He has a knot. Like a crocadog or something." 

"A whaaaaat?! Ahhhh!" The smaller ottsel squeaked in surprise as the bulge sank fully inside him. "Sweet Precursors!"

Jak's roar of orgasm shook the tiny craft, his hips grinding against his smaller partner's as he claimed him, just as he had her minutes before. With each growled grunt, he bucked another load into his stunned partner. 

"What the heck was that?" Dax jerked his head back at this rump, tried to move, and found himself held fast. "And why are we stuck?!" 

Through a dreamy fog, Tess watched her boyfriends tie. The scent of ottsel sex hung thick the air, leaving her voice to carry on without her. "Male crocadogs have knots to keep their seed in the female after mating."

"Well, I ain't exactly a female." He wiggled, but stopped as pleasure and discomfort mixed on his face. "Actually, ya know what? That can stay right where it is."

Jak, silent, just nuzzled the underside of his best friend's tail. Then, with a soft crackle, the last of the dark eco dissipated, allowing the color to return to his pelt and eyes. As his once-again adorable erection slide free, a generous dollop of Precursor cum dripped from their balls and pattered to the grey steel floor plating. His ears dropped in modesty under the weight of a sudden blush.

The next instant, Daxter, deprived of phallic support, collapsed to the sticky deck with a splat and a squawk. 

Tess couldn't help but grin. 

~ ~ ~

As daylight faded, the three ottsels toweled off after another shower. It'd taken more than a few lathers, rinses, and repeats to get the various nastiness out of their fur. 

Wrapping her ears and hair up in a hand towel, Tess sat on the lip of the tub, legs swaying. So this is what it felt like to actually go on adventures. She watched as the boys smoothed their ruffled, drying fur. 

Jak rubbed the nape of his neck, looking between them, then at the floor. "Guys, about the dark eco… I—I'm sorry."

"You kiddin'? I'm gonna keep a pump bottle of the stuff on the nightstand from now on." Dax slapped him on the back. "If yer really sorry, though, I'm sure I can think up some kinda payback..." His lewd gaze trailed down Jak's front and back.

The hero stammered.

The soap dish rattled.

A massive rumble shook everything in the bathroom. 

Tess looked around. Loofahs tumbled from the bathroom cabinet. An earthquake? One of the eco reactors malfunctioning?

Daxter bounced up to the edge of the tub, then to the window sill, wiping steam from the panes. Outside, white light surged above the clouds, setting them aglow. The sound grew until the window itself shook in its frame. The business ends of powerful engines split the clouds, plasma blazing forth to stabilize the craft above.

Still seated atop the tub, the female ottsel found her mouth hanging open. "I think that's—"

Stepping beside her, Jak placed a paw on her shin. "—a Precursor space shuttle."

"Looks like it's landin' out by Spargus." Daxter hopped down from the window and into his pants. "What're we waitin' for? We gotta roll out the welcome wagon!"

~ ~ ~

Twenty minutes later, they skidded their fastest zoomer to a stop outside the Spargus arena. They pushed their way through the gathering crowd of onlookers, which was more dangerous than it sounded given the Wastelanders' penchant for spiked knee pads. When they finally navigated the carved tunnels that led to the seating area, they saw the lumpy orange hulk of the Precursor shuttle towering above. It settled on a gladiatorial platform over the rocky streams of lava. 

An large armored figure stood on the platform, waiting to greet them. The ottsels skittered over the railing and hopped from between the platforms to reach Sig's side. Tess clutched the Precursor staff they'd brought with them and tried not to look down.

The hulking cyborg glanced down at them. "Well, if it isn't the peck of chili peppers. Good to see you in my arena this time."

Daxter crossed his arms. "Yeah, nice how we don't have to fight to the death this time!"

Sig studied him with his organic eye for a moment. "You saying you never figured out we only put you through that because we thought you were only good for cannon fodder?"

"What?!" That put Daxter's dander up.

"Most people who get kicked out of Haven City are dangerous criminals." He shrugged. "If you'd looked more like a electrical engineer, we'd have given you a written exam."

Jak buried his face in his paw. "You gotta be kidding me."

The big man offered the greenish ottsel a chuckle. "You didn't think your old man was stupid enough to waste resources like having people fight to the death at random, did you?"

A loud thrum interrupted any further conversation. The port on the craft's side irised open, projecting a series of gangplanks. A chubby ottsel leapt out with a battle cry, spinning his staff like a weapon. A taller one bounded out an instant later, karate chopping the air. Loud clanking announced the arrival of a third, clad in plump, bug-eyed power armor with a long sensory snoot. 

Tess waved at them. "Hi!"

The Precursors straightened from their dramatic poses. The tall one lifted the last of his karate chops to smooth back his ears. "Hey, dudes! We detected a mondo eco disturbance in your planet."

The elder ottsel tapped his staff against his fingertips. "We came to offer our assistance."

Daxter examined his claws, leaning on Sig's leg. "Oh, that little ol’ world-ending catastrophe? Yeah, we took care of it. That was sooo this morning’s new."

The leader scratched his beard. "Oh, well, in that case, I suppose we're here to offer…"

With a whir, the faceplate of the power armor flipped open to reveal the hopeful face of an ottsel. "...snacks?"

The wizened elder shook his head. "I was going to say our infinite, interstellar wisdom, but sure. I could use a snack."

~ ~ ~

Towering and well-lit, the interior of the Precursor spacecraft loomed several stories tall. The upper levels featured rings of walkways where Tess caught the occasional glimpse of movement. The main floor was surprisingly well-appointed: plush davenports, supple beanbags, and some kind of multi-level cat perch, plus heaps of throw pillows. Everyone took a seat, except Sig, who crushed one. The tall ottsel wheeled in a hovering tray of treats.

Daxter took a massive bite out of what looked like a chocolate tart, scattering crumbs with every syllable. "So you guys got time travel; why didn't ya just go back and fix whatever you thought was wrong?"

The pudgy ottsel nibbled at some kind of translucent space eggplant. "Because we didn't know what was wrong yet."

"Plus, we can't mess with time if it erases our reason for needing to mess with time, since that erases our messing with time." The bucktoothed Precursor made a complicated looping gesture. 

"Using it to mess with people, on the other hand..." Jak smirked and elbowed his boyfriend.

A tiny orange drone buzzed in to start sweeping the crumbs off the cushions and got into a fight when it tried to do the same to Daxter. 

"So dude, how'd this even happen?" The tall ottsel gestured up and down Jak's body. "When we left, you seemed pretty set on staying a human."

"Oh!" Tess sat up and grabbed the staff from beside her chair. "He found this thing and it zapped him into being even cuter than before." She cast him an adoring glance. 

His inner ears blushed a darker shade of pink.

"Ah yes." The elder Precursor nodded. His own version of the implement glowed, causing hers to levitate and rotate. "That's one of many things it can do. We call this device—" He swept a dramatic paw toward it, speaking with reverence: "—a 'multi-tool.'"

Jak lifted a finger. "Did you know dark eco would still let me transform as an ottsel?"

"We had hoped." The Precursor leader summoned another small robot, which began filling the cracks in the staff's gem with some kind of sealant. "We...guided the development of your species to channel large amounts of eco, far more than we could safely use ourselves."

Daxter scoffed, batted away the cleaning drone, and snagged another choco-tart, gesturing with it pointedly. "Ya mean you dumped a bunch of it on our planet and waited to see what would happen."

Sig shifted atop the ruins of a tiny sofa. "You don't care that your experiment took hundreds of years?"

"Our species ditched aging a couple generations back. So time isn't as valuable as, like, our lives." The tall Precursor crossed his ankles on a padded ottoman. "We're not warriors, though, just radical dudes, so we've been ducking the Dark Makers for centuries now."

The Precursor elder stroked his beard. "In fact, the experiment worked out better than we could've hoped. Kor is defeated, the Dark Maker mothership is destroyed, and the Universe back in Precursor paws.” Steepling his paws, the older ottsel gave them a serious look. "It is impressive, Jak, that you're still able to channel eco now that you're in our form. The Dark Makers found only their undoing."

Jak cleared his throat. "Speaking of undoing, it it even possible to change me back?"

"Of course." The elder Precursor took the now-repaired staff from the hovering robot. "It's the second button from the top. For security, the buttons are inside these tiny grooves, just wide enough for ottsel claws." He raised a digit in demonstration. "But, take care: if you change back to human form, you'll never be able to use it again... unless you have a ballpoint pen or something."

Tess accepted the staff and held it gingerly. "What do the other buttons do?"

The tall ottsel counted off on his fingers. "Those are, like, tractor beam, healing, pants creation, communicating with our mothership." 

"All the basics of life!" The daft Precursor cheered around a bunch of faintly-glowing grapes. 

A purring Daxter seemed to have made peace with the cleaning drone, which had switched to grooming mode and was, at present, brushing between his ears.

Sig paused mid-sip at a cup of tea, steam gathering on his cybernetic eye. "Wait, you have a ship bigger than this?" 

"Well, yes." The elder Precursor spread his paws. "With the fall of the Dark Makers, we're free to move about the Universe. We have a number of other colony worlds..." 

Tess spotted a blaze of orange fur a couple levels up. Ottsels in white jumpsuits walked around with computerized tablets, sliding sliders and pressing buttons on vast control panels. Leaning over one railing, a scruffy little ottsel watched with wide blue eyes. Tess gasped at the undiluted cuteness: a baby ottsel! Well, not a baby—clearly a little kid. But still! 

Noticing she'd been noticed, the little girl dropped her ears and offered a shy wave. She wore the same plain white garments as the adults, but carried a small plush creature, yellow with brown stripes. 

Below, Tess waved back, shock blunting her movements. 

With a bounce, the little Precursor smiled wide and peered a little further over the railing. Standing on her tiptoes, she was just tall enough to angle her nose down at the strangers. Gossamer whiskers sprung straight with interest. 

Tess had never really given much thought to young ottsels, but clearly Precursors reproduced much like humans. She'd never thought much about being a mother either, but a rush of nesting hormones radiated through her brain. The sudden desire arose to nurture the heck out of the little tyke. 

~ ~ ~

About an hour later, Tess stood with Sig and the boys outside the craft, watching it from a balcony. With a thrum and then a shudder, the ship thundered skyward and tugged her heartstrings after it. Odd, since she really knew so little about them, but the Precursors had left their mark on her life in as many ways as they had on her planet. Her paw closed around the little orange memory card they'd given her, packed with elementary history lessons on a people who were now her own.

Jak patted her shoulder, watching the shuttle shrink to just another point of light in the endless sky. Who knew what exotic mission they were headed off to next? The Universe was big, after all, especially to an ottsel, and her planet was just starting to truly get an idea of the majesty, danger, and wonder that lay beyond their fragile, hurtling sphere. 

"Well…" Smile gleaming the in the torchlight, Daxter slapped the repaired staff against his palm. "...who wants to see what Samos looks like with fur?"

~ ~ ~


	10. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jak puts together a little surprise for his new lovers/old lovers. Tess/Daxter/Jak

Jak & Daxter: Safety  
Chapter 9  
Tempo & Sillyneko

Jak puts together a little surprise for his new lovers/old friends.

~ ~ ~

Fuzzy yellow chin propped on the windowsill, Daxter stared morosely at the bustle of the street outside. In the afternoon lull between the Naughty Ottsel’s peak rushes of lunch and dinner, he took a moment to scan the passing crowd. Not a glimpse of red scarf or blonde hair could be seen.

“If you wanted to dust the sills, I could have given you a rag,” Tess teased. She peered up at him, perched atop a bar stool he’d shoved across the room. “Still no sign of Jak?”

“Not a hair.” Daxter’s ears flicked back in annoyance. “Not that surprising, I guess, given how much time he’s spent not bein' fuzzy lately.”

Padding up, she gave his dangling toes a gentle squeeze of sympathy. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, snookums. He’s running out of human-sized errands to run.” A little tug followed the squeeze. “Come have some lunch with me. It’s going to take both of us to open the new jar of pickles.”

He looked down at her and managed a grin. “Ya know what they say: the couple that opens pickles together gets out of pickles together!” He slithered down from the stool and, together, they pushed it back to the bar. “Still, the one time we could really use those big brawny hero hands an’ Jak’s out doin’ who-knows-what.”

It had been almost a month since the ottsel trio had detonated the piercer bomb, solved the world’s latest crisis, and had tea and cookies with a benevolent race of fuzzy, super-advanced, super-adorable space aliens in the span of twenty-four hours. Since then, when the eldest Precursor had given Jak the key to regaining his humanity, he had been spending a lot of time in his former, slightly taller, form. 

Daxter couldn’t say he was surprised. A little disappointed, maybe, but not surprised. Jak hadn’t had time to really adapt to life as an ottsel, not like he and Tess had. So, while the two of them had spent the weeks studying the data discs the Precursors had supplied (Daxter found the sections on ottsel mating rituals especially fascinating), Jak had quickly mastered full use of the Precursor staff and how to switch back and forth between forms.

Not that things were terrible, Daxter amended to himself as he put the pickle jar in a chokehold and Tess muscled off the lid. The resulting pop echoed through the stockroom.  
He would never, ever get tired of riding on Jak’s shoulder, or curling in his lap in front of the TV, immobilizing one of the hero’s arms while Tess happily hogged the other.

Without fail, no matter how much of the day he had spent as a human, Jak was also Precursor-sized every night by bedtime and still cuddled up in the ottsel nest with them. He hadn’t mentioned moving out of the bar, even if he was gone from it for long spans most days. In fact, Jak had made no mention of change at all; he simply seemed happier than Daxter had seen him in a long while, which went a long way toward soothing the ottsel couple’s fear that he would leave them behind again. 

Still… there was always the niggling worry that the hero would move on.

"You don't think I offended him? Usin' him as a stepladder?" Daxter fished a pickle from the open jar, then pointed it around the stockroom. "It's just we got a lotta high shelves around here."

"Sweetie-fluffs, I think you should wait to do that until he's in human form. After all, we own an actual stepladder."

He bit into the pickle with mock surprise. "Since when?"

With a gust of displaced ait the front door swung open, allowing Torn to stomp in. A floating image of Sig's head hovered above a hologram-projector disk, levitating as it trailed the grumpy soldier. 

Bringing up the rear of the odd procession was Jak, in human form, of course. He was carrying what looked to be an eco canister and looked preoccupied. "Can't this city solve any of its own problems? I can't be the only guy who could guard eco prospectors in the Icelands."

Torn spun to lean against the bar backwards. "No one else has your experience."

"Hey!" Daxter bounced out from the stockroom and up onto a barstool to poke an accusatory finger at the grumpy guard captain. "That's only because you keep throwin' us into every deathtrap you can find!"

The tattooed man sneered. "It's not my fault you don't recognize a suicide mission when you see one."

Sig cleared his throat. "Now cherries, it's not like you're the only ones who have to fight the good fight. We've only gotten this far by havin' each other's backs."

"Is this about the time Jax kissed Ashelin?" Tess padded into the barroom and climbed up to the bar. "Because I don't think you have anything to worry about there."

Torn scowled deeper than usual, directing it at Jak.

The younger man gave a sheepish shrug and zapped himself with the Precursor staff. A flash of white light filled the room, leaving an ottsel Jak standing on the wooden floor amid a swirl of fading orange sparkles. The repaired staff had shrunk his clothes perfectly, which only added to Daxter's dismay. Nodding at his handiwork, he spun the staff around his paw and tucked it into a loop in his belt. 

With a few quick hops, the armored ottsel scrambled up onto the bar with his fellows, presumably before Torn could step on him.

"C'mon!" Dax spread his arms in exasperation. "He'd just blown up the Dark Makers' terraformer. He had to kiss someone and it wasn't gonna be Sig."

The cyborg, via hologram, looked a little sad.

Tess swayed her way to her new lover and ran a gentle paw down his sleeve. "Well, I think we can assure you he won't be kissing any humans anymore. Eh Jak?"

With a rakish grin, Daxter swung his fellow ottsel around, dipped him, and planted a big smooch on his frantically questioning lips.

Torn uttered a sound of unparalleled disgust. "My life's a Precursor-damned circus. Jak, if it’s not too much to ask, could you stop sucking face for a second and focus?" 

Jak struggled out of the impromptu lip-lock and back onto his feet. "Look, Torn, if you have an actual emergency, call me. In the meantime, I'm through running your errands." He glanced to his fellow ottsels, smiling despite the lingering blush in his ears. "I sort of have a life now."

"Hmf." The tattooed soldier stalked out of the bar and slammed the door on his way out, which bounced back open. He paused for a moment, as if considering shutting it, then stormed off into the crowd.

Sig's hovering hologram disk swept over the bar floor to watch Torn go, then turned to the ottsels. "Don't worry about him, chilli peppers. I think you make a cute little trio." 

"Thanks, Sig." Daxter beamed, holding a flustered Jak on one arm and a pleased Tess on the other.

With a quiet thrum of hover-jets, he nodded and whirred out the open door. A moment later, his hologram projection nudged it shut.

With the close of the door, the street noise cut off abruptly. Jak let out a sigh, furry little shoulders dropping a bit. His gaze met Daxter's, his ears lifting with curiosity. "Well, that was fun. What was that all about?"

Dax rubbed a paw over his friend’s armor. His fingers curled around one of the metal shoulder pads Jak wore as ottsel perches; it felt odd to grasp something he could normally stand. "Just good having ya around."

"I know, I know." Jak ran a hand over his blonde-green hair. "I've been away from the bar a lot the last few days, but it's been for a good reason." He patted the faintly glowing eco canister. "And I'm back to pull my weight around here."

Dax pressed a palm to Jak's chest, trying to cobble his anxieties into words. "It ain't just that, pal."

The hero of Haven just stood on the bar, looking confused. 

Tess placed a paw on his tail. "We might have been a little nervous about you suddenly spending so much time without us."

"And, ya know—" Daxter wrung his dainty paws. "—in human mode. Not that ya look half bad in it..."

"You kidding?" The taller male smirked and lifted a hand to gesture at the bar. "This is the one place I belong." He turned back to them, a bit of a blush creeping up his ears. "You know, with you guys."

Slower this time, the ottsels closed in around him for a massive hug. Round little muzzles rubbed over the bases of his whiskers. 

His fingers slipped into their silken pelts. "I'm not abandoning you guys." His eyes glistened with affection over a slow smile. "Not ever."

“Eh, I knew it all along,” Daxter boasted, his audible purr telling. 

Tess giggled. “Of course you did, Daxxie.” She looked the two up and down mischievously. “Well, since we’re all alone together at last, why don’t we celebrate Jak’s triumphant return?”

The suggestion, and the subtle sway of her tail as she hopped off the bar to lead the way upstairs, was certainly something the boys could get behind.

~ ~ ~

The trio retreated to the nest bed, trailing clothing as they went. Jak pulled off his belt, accidentally knocking Daxter’s hip with the Precursor staff as he did. The smaller ottsel squeaked and backpedaled away from the device in thinly-disguised alarm.

Jak chuckled and bumped his boyfriend with an elbow. "Seriously, Dax? You tried for years to change back to a human and now you're afraid to try to pull the trigger?"

Dax grumbled, flustered. "Hey, I’m not scared! Just haven't gotten around to it yet."

"Aww, don't tease him, Jak." Tess scratched under his chin. "Maybe he likes being my little fuzzy cuddle-buddy."

"That's too bad. Being a human's fun, too." The newest ottsel crossed his arms. "And I thought I could try riding on somebody else's shoulder for a change."

"Hmm. Sound argument. And I hear he's pretty cute as a human." She stroked Daxter’s furry tail. "I'd like to see for myself."

"Ugh!" He threw himself onto the blankets. "Guys, I looked like a dork, that's all you need to know, moving on!" His slinky little body slipped under a pillow to hide.

She snickered. "Awww, whiskerpuss, everyone’s a dork when they’re a teenager."

He poked his head out. "Look, I'm not sayin' never, just not right now."

Tess lay down to be at eye level with the ottsel nose emerging from under the pillow. "Well, I do have a birthday coming up..." She nuzzled him, then noticed Jak hopping off the bed and scurrying into the hallway.

Daxter poked his head out far enough for his ears to pop up. "Where's he goin'?"

"I'm sure he'll be back." Sitting up, she stroked his hand. Her gaze drifted after Jak, as did her thoughts. "You know… I wonder if three is the optimum number of ottsels?"

Her boyfriend ventured from the safety of the pillow, shaking a feather off his foot. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged at him. "The only other ones we talked to were a group of three."

Bemusement quirked his whiskers. "That dummy one must be an animal in the sack." He crossed his arms. "Ya wanna ask the invaders from fuzzy space about their sex lives? I've been impressed by their ottsel sutra—turns out we're even more flexible than I thought."

Giggling, Tess grabbed a blue crystal rod from the nightstand drawer and waggled it at him. "They clearly have advanced sex toy technology too. It's hard to get powerful, low-frequency vibration out of a toy this small." Maybe they could try the vibrator out on Jak tonight. He'd seen them use it, but the kid could be so shy. 

As if summoned by her thoughts, Jak returned, rolling a small metal keg into the room ahead of himself. Naked.

"Sheesh, you didn't skimp on the lube." Daxter waggled his eyebrows. "That all for tonight?"

Jak's ears dropped, blushing a deep red. "It's light eco, Dax." He tipped the canister on its end. "This is what I've been running around collecting the last few weeks." His paws twisted off the end. A radiant glow spilled out across the walls of the room, shimmering white and serene.

Curious, Tess peered down from the side of the bed. "What's it for?"

"This." With only a moment’s hesitation, Jak stuck his paw into the shining liquid. The fluid raced up his arm, enveloping his whole body in light. His green-blonde fur gleamed, shifting to pastel blue as it intensified. Chest raised, arms thrown to the sides, he levitated off the floorboards. 

This had to be Jak’s light eco form. Like his dark one, she'd never actually seen it in person, but the resemblance stopped there. 

Tendrils of white light bloomed from his back. He floated up to the mattress like a massive shimmering dandelion seed. His eyes opened to reveal luminous orbs, though his face held nothing but gentle affection.

Tess should've been freaked out. She should've been scrambling for the door. But something about the waves of peace radiating from him kept her in place. Even as one of the wing tentacles reached forward to caress her cheek, she only lifted a paw to feel it. This was Jak, after all; the same guy who'd fought at her side against the Metal Heads, who'd shared her bed all these months, the one person she'd consider sharing her orange snuggle-muffin with.

Against the cool touch of eco-flesh, any lingering anxiety melted away. She explored the glowing limbs: smooth, supple, maybe a little stretchy. Even the lightest touch left her skin radiant with life and peace. 

Likewise transfixed, Daxter didn't resist as the tendrils curled around him, exploring every inch of him. They trailed up the legs of his pants, emerging at the top to unbuckle his belt and unzip his fly with surprising dexterity. The orange ottsel opened his mouth with a questioning look, only to have a tentacle press to his lips, then trace lovingly across them. 

At the same moment, the clever appendages started disrobing Tess as well. Her top went first, followed by her sports bra, then her shorts and panties. Jak didn't even bother with her zipper, instead just sweeping the garments off with a pair of skilled glowing limbs. 

The illuminated ottsel lay flat on the bed, letting his eight tendrils manipulate his lovers in sensual ways. A look of amused pleasure spread across his face like flower petals over the surface of a glass-smooth pool. His light cast curious shadows on their bedroom walls. 

Daxter gave a delicate squeak as he was relieved of his underpants, but raised no objection when the tentacles curled around his sheath, balls, and tail, stroking each with supple affection. The very tip of a tendril teased into the entrance of his sheathed cock. After a few seconds, the stimulation coaxed the pink head of his dick into the cool blue light. 

Amid the calm clarity of light eco exposure, Tess scarcely noticed being lifted from the bed. Slowly, gently, the tentacles of light spread her legs and settled her to crotch atop Jak's waiting muzzle. 

Behind her, she heard Dax moan with pleasure as he, too, was levitated into position. Their hardening members rubbed together as tendrils stroked his silken pelt.

Dangling just over the bed, Tess moaned around the cool girth of a glowing tentacle as it almost politely slipped into her muzzle. Its tip caressed her gums, leaving a delicate tingle of light eco stimulation. Two more toyed with her nipples as a fourth teased under her tail. With a leg on either side of Jak's head, her slit lay spread and exposed to his loving tongue. Every few licks traced up to her clit, sending jolts of pleasure up through her body. 

A glance behind revealed Daxter suspended by his tail with a tentacle wrapping his cock together with Jak's as two more rocked him back and forth. A thin trickle trailed from the tip of one stiff pink cock to the other. Two sets of fuzzy balls dragged against each other, yellow and pale blue, delicate sheaths tugged up and down by the glowing ethereal flesh. The very tip of the coiled tentacle spread a shiny layer of male pleasure around the head of Dax's dick. "Aww, yes… Oh, that's good..."

A stray tentacle snuck under Tess’s rump and slithered up into her. As it danced among the lavish attentions of Jak's tongue, it delivered a titillating tingle, just cool enough to contrast with the hot flesh of her folds. Gasping, she glanced down.

Still tongue-deep inside her, Jak lay back with a look of perfect serenity as his tentacles toyed with her breasts. His lips delivered an open-muzzle kiss to her labia. 

The two remaining tentacles coiled around Daxter's thighs, lifting him off of his boyfriend and depositing him between his legs. Then the tentacle inside Tess slipped free with a wet whisper and spread her juices along the throbbing length of his ottselhood, even teasing a little twirl around the entrance of his sheath. His erection shimmered in the glow, slick with ottsel juices, as it sank into Jak's entrance. "Oooooooh, yeah..."

Tender tentacles rocked the overwhelmed ottsel back and forth, edging deeper into Jak with every motion. Tess watched as one lover's shaft, slick with her own fluids, sank deep into her other. Daxter yammered and stammered, while Jak scarcely breathed harder. 

His tongue hadn't slowed down, though. That luminous gaze traced over her and, noticing her turning back to watch Daxter, those smiling eyes blinked once. Tentacles wove into position, lifting her by the legs and tail, turning her so expertly that his licks never failed to trace her tender entrance. As they settled her back down, now facing her boyfriend, she sank fully back onto Jak's muzzle. His strong paws caressed from her flanks to her thighs. 

Whimpering with delight, the female ottsel leaned forward, grabbed Daxter by the cheek ruffs, and kissed him. Their tongues played along each other, tracing each other's trembling lips. An impassioned purr reverberated between them. 

The orange ottsel squawked into her mouth. His ears shot straight up. Both ottsels looked back to see three tentacles taking turns penetrating his dainty rump, each not fully waiting for the previous to leave before pressing inside. Another tentacle toyed with his twitching balls, rubbing behind them as he rocked in and out of his boyfriend. Daxter shuddered through a gasp, his eyes rolling back. 

She kissed him full on the mouth again, adoring the feel of him reaching his climax. Her paws left his silky pelt and raced to her clit like pleasure-seeking missiles. Her paw pads stroked around that sensitive bud, her claws here and there meeting Jak's determined tongue. As Dax whimpered and gasped around their kiss, she tumbled into an orgasm of her own. 

Jak kept licking her folds, kept stroking her fur, kept tugging and twisting at her nipples. The tingle of his eco-infused touch sent shivers down her spine, only to reach the end of her tail and bounce back up again. As she came down from her high, she panted, but felt strangely energized. She should be tired from the mattress gymnastics they'd all been partaking in. 

Daxter, likewise, continued thrusting. A thick helping of ottsel cum now matted the fur of Jak's tail and thighs, but the non-glowing participant hadn't even gone soft. 

Come to think of it, Tess felt quite ready for another orgasm. Did this have something to do with the light eco? It had to. But just how long could they keep going like—

A trio of tentacles slipped into her mouth, vagina, and anus, and lifted her full off the bed. Her squeak of surprise was muffled by the soft ethereal flesh. Three more tentacles curled in to tease her nipples and massage her clit. The direct stimulation of light eco on her most sensitive flesh sent her trembling over the edge of another climax. Limbs flailing in midair, her fingers and toes curled at nothing as she lapped and squeezed on his delightful intrusions.

Daxter watched in open-muzzled astonishment. "Sweet Precursors, Jak! How are ya—?" The two remaining tentacles penetrated him simultaneously, reducing his question to a crazed chitter. He grabbed Jak by the hips and thrust with frantic abandon, until with a squeaked victory cry, he buried himself deep in Jak's glowing behind and pumped it full of fresh ottsel cream. 

Jak's own erection bounced on his stomach fur from the motion. If the restorative powers of light eco were helping Dax and Tess recharge amazingly quickly, they seemed to be keeping Jak in a state of perpetual readiness. Far from being overeager to find his own release, though, he seemed perfectly content to focus completely on the pleasure of his lovers.

It was a sharp contrast to his dark eco form, Tess realized as she was gently lowered back to the mattress. Under the influence of the purple goo, he’d been eager almost to the point of selfishness. Not that either of the others had minded, per se.

“Daxxie? What do you say we give Jak a little attention?” she cooed. “He’s been so sweet to give us this nice surprise and pamper us so much today.”

Amazingly, her orange lover looked more than ready for round three. “Heh, I’m right behind ya, Tessie-baby.”

Jak looked up at them, still calm but quizzical. His blue glow seemed to flicker, just for an instant.

Tess curled against the pillows and beckoned him to her. “Come on, sweetie. We want to make you feel good before you use up all that eco.”

Obligingly he disengaged from Daxter and padded up, settling against her with a nuzzle. Daxter followed, draping himself over Jak’s back with his chin tucked between the serenely waving wing fronds.

Concentrated squirming on Tess’s part aligned their lower bodies. She reached down, guiding his softly glowing length inside her slick folds. She felt Dax move, slipping back inside Jak once more; held between his lovers, the hero’s fluorescent white eyes slid smoothly shut in contentment.

Their hips ground against his. The female ottsel chirred in delight at the refreshing tingle of a light-eco-infused cock deep in her folds. 

Jak's aura glowed brighter with every gasp. His tentacles lashed at the sensation of being inside her, of having Dax inside him. Daxter grabbed the tendrils like reins, riding his boyfriend harder with a broad grin. 

With a surge of light, the glowing blue ottsel cried out in passion. He gripped her waist as a buzzing burst of eco and cum rushed into her passage, spreading up her nerves in lovely mixture of heat and cool, of alien novelty and loving familiarity. 

Tess held him as he whimpered and shivered in wonder. As her hands curled into his fur, she noticed a subtle glow emanating from her paw pads. His light eco must have somehow emanated through her body. What an incredible sensation—they could very well be the first people on the planet, or anywhere, to experience this. She looked up to share this special moment with Daxter. 

"Awwww yeaaah! I'm comin'! Comin' right in yer ass, Jak!" The orange ottsel chittered into a long, keening moan of orgasm, still pounding his hips to the fading light of Jak's rump.

With a pop and a fizzle, Jak's tentacles evaporated into an ionized prickle in the air. The last of the illumination gone from his fur, he curled up between his lovers, only the look of pure contentment lingering from his previous form. 

Fur all mussed, eyes unfocused, Daxter gasped. “Wow, usually ya gotta take some pretty wicked drugs to experience somethin’ like that.”

~ ~ ~

Months passed Jak by as he settled into a pleasant routine of running the bar by day and running around with Tess and Daxter by night. The city hadn't fallen apart. No cosmic threats appeared to be barreling down on their planet. Even the eco levels had returned to normal. 

Aside from a brief quest to track down their old enemy Veger and covertly turn him into a moncaw, the trio hadn't seen much butt-kicking adventure. And that was okay, Jak decided. Not every adventure involved risking their lives. Some adventures happened in a cuddle-pile with your two best friends in the Universe. 

~ ~ ~

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Daxter winced, eyes squinted in anticipation. "Just do it already."

"We don't want to rush this." Tess double-checked the scrawls on pieces of tape ringing the Precursor staff. "You could end up wearing a pair of pants as a top. Though I suppose that could be my birthday gift too."

The shorter ottsel groaned and fidgeted.

Jak hefted the device and leveled it at his boyfriend. "You'll be fine, Dax. I know what I'm doing." He clicked a claw into one the first groove. The gem at the top of the device hummed and lit like a kindled fire. A glow of energy surrounded it, then surged forward.

The flash of golden light enveloped Daxter. He felt his body lift off the surface of the bed, stretching and shifting in the warm glow. When he bounced again on the mattress, his form felt heavier and bulkier. He glanced down at the freckle-backed hands. Bringing them together, he found his skin silky soft and sensitive. Cool air teased his naked arms and chest. His bare toes reached far enough to drag along the floorboards. He couldn't shake the feeling of a ghostly version of his tail stuck into the mattress. 

With a squeal of glee, Tess bounced up into his lap to hug his stomach. Her paws traced him with appreciation. "Oooh! You're a stud as a human."

The redhead scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I think ya mean scrawny." He crossed his arms over his narrow, bony chest. "Look, can we just get on with the shoulder-rides or whatever? Havin' my teenage body back ain't doing wonders for my self-esteem."

"I don't know, you look more mature now." Jak set down the staff and stroked his chin as he looked Daxter over with a smirk. "Like you might be able to grow a beard."

Daxter subconsciously copied the gesture. "Yer just sayin' that to make me feel better."

The ottsels shared a conspiratorial glance. As one, they dove for his crotch.

"Hey!" With a nervous laugh, the human tried halfheartedly to brush them away, which only made them redouble their efforts. "Guys! C'mon!"

Eager paws unbuttoned, unzipped, and unabashedly reached through layers of fabric toward their prize. Dextrous fingers groped his junk, their fur like silk against his naked flesh, and tugged it out through his now-open fly. 

It looked more or less like he'd remembered it: a few more copper curls of pubic hair at the base of his cock…and on his sac, but otherwise the same as he'd last seen it. Two freckles on the left side of his soft shaft, right under where his thumb would go when he'd grip it all those horny nights as a teenage human. The head of his cock hid shyly under its foreskin. The shaft tipped lazily over his balls, smooth and pale, veins all but invisible. The hungry look the ottsels gave it, however, brought a hot blush to his cheeks.

Tess gave another ecstatic squeak, her little fists shaking by her cheek ruffs. "It's almost as adorable as your ottsel one!"

"I would thank you not to refer to it as a adorable!" Where was his tail when he needed it? 

"Don't worry, Dax." Kneeling at his hip, Jak's paws closed around the middle of his friend's shaft with a delighted chuckle as he flopped it back and forth. "It's sure bigger than I remember…"

"Yer two feet tall!" The redhead blushed an even darker shade of crimson. "Of course it looks bigger to you!"

At his other hip, Tess cast him a lewd grin, edging closer to his crotch. "I think it looks lovely, honey-pie." She leaned in, her soft little nose just barely brushing the opening of his cock. "Mmmm, lovely enough to lick." That talented little pink tongue flicked out to tease the very tip of his dick.

Dax squirmed.

With a deep purr of arousal, Jak nuzzled in for some licks of his own, tugging the delicate skin down his cock head, lapping at every millimeter exposed with his textured ottsel tongue. After what felt like an eternity of torturous pleasure, his boyfriend reached the back of his glans to wiggle his tongue back and forth under the ridge. 

After a paranoid instant of wondering if he'd forgotten how to get a boner as a human, his cock surged to boop his girlfriend gently in the nose and mouth. He felt her lips open in surprise, then slip down over the tip of his cock with warm moisture and a smile. Gentle female paws caressed his sac, plying the loose skin over his strangely-heavy balls.

Half-hard and stiffening with every lick, stroke, and nuzzle, Daxter lay back and moaned, helpless, as his ottsel lovers worshiped his cock. Their muzzles shared him generously as they took turns licking up their respective sides to take the head of his cock into their mouths. Nimble little tongues slathered affection on his sensitive skin. Dainty paws groped his scrotum, then traced around the base of his shaft to brush through his public hair. 

Daxter leaned back, paralyzed by pleasure. "Uhhhhhh..."

Tess took off her top, letting her modest ottsel breasts drag along the side of his erection. As she reached the tip of his cock, she took Jak by the cheek ruffs and, lifting him from sucking Daxter's dick, made out with him around it. 

Jak looked surprised at first, but soon relaxed into the kisses. His yellow paws hurried his own fly open, gripping his half-sheathed cock, and giving it some much-needed attention. He leaned his shoulder against Tess's, hot breath breaking in waves against his tender flesh. 

As his girlfriend's chin rested atop his dick, her loving bedroom eyes met his. Her own paws stroked the supple skin of his cock up and down. "Feeling like a stud yet, snugglekins?"

The human shuddered, stiffening. A sheen of crystal-clear precum collected at the tip of his cock. 

With a naughty giggle, Tess lapped it up. "Mmmmmm, you taste good as a human too." She shucked her shorts and panties and tossed them off the edge of the bed. "Why don't you take off your pants..." She lay on her back. "...and get up her to give me a better taste?" 

"C'mon, Dax." The blonde ottsel gave him a playful swat on the hip, pink shaft still hard in his other hand. His cocky grin egged his boyfriend on, a look he'd seen countless times as rambunctious kids. "I wanna see that freckled ass in the air."

Daxter rocked his ungainly human form back on the bed. He kicked out of his pants and negotiated his freedom from his clingy underpants. The sensation of tight fabric dragging down his slick cock almost drove him over the edge right then and there. He crawled over his girlfriend, legs spread over her waist. "What'd ya have in mind?"

The sly glimmer of a plan shone in Tess's eyes. She tugged her larger lover down by the erection and rocked her hips into the air with limber dexterity. Her feet wrapped around the base of his throbbing cock, fur and paw pads squeezing his shaft, toes wiggling in his scruffy pubic hair. Her hands stroked every inch of him between them and her mouth. She wiggled with pleasure—the wet heat of her slit rubbed at the underside of his shaft, right where it met his balls, tail arched under them. That thick, muscular tail traced under his sac.

The human moaned. With every rock of his hips, the tip of his cock slid into her waiting, panting mouth. That felt great. Incredible. He wasn't sure how life could get any better than this.

A warm, fuzzy hand rested on his rear as its owner climbed to stand on the backs of his thighs. 

He glanced back to find the blonde ottsel behind him, wearing nothing but a smirk. His own, smaller erection prodded his human lover's balls, then rose to brush against his entrance. "Ready to have a little fun, Dax?"

The human gave a blushing nod, then tried to relax as the wet tip of an ottsel erection pressed to his opening. As it sank inside, the he shuddered, dripping precum onto his girlfriend's tongue. 

She mmmed with delight in response. Busy ottsel hands stroked him up and down. Moisture from her slit clung to the base of his cock and the front of his balls. Her every breath lifted her breasts to or washed her breath over his sensitive tip. 

Overwhelmed, the redhead surrendered to the horny orange beasties having their way with him. A hot length of ottsel massaged in and out of him, fuzzy sheath and balls teasing the bare skin of his ass. His own shaft throbbed as the two people he loved most in the world made love to him. 

Finding his groove, Jak upped the speed of his thrusts. His little ottsel hips thumped against Daxter with a week's worth of passion, yet with barely a whisper through his rich fur. At the apex of the deepest thrusts, Dax could feel his boyfriend's balls on the crack of his ass, that delicate sheath bunched up against his entrance. Angling, he hit all sorts of heartbeat-fluttering places. 

Under him, Tess started wiggling even more than before. A glance down revealed her scooting up the bed to eye level. Her sultry gaze made Dax squeeze down on the lover behind him.

Unconcerned by Jak's whimpered response, Daxter leaned down to deliver a soft kiss to her whiskered muzzle. He shouldn't have been surprised by the eager little tongue that invaded his mouth. 

The greedy paws gripping his cock and pressing its head to her slit, though, that threw him for a loop like a malfunctioning zoomer. 

~ ~ ~

A growl of determination rose in Tess's throat as she worked his cock tip into her red and ready slit. He just felt so good, smelled so good, even in human form. And his dick… Well, that was just too good to pass up. So thick and hard and responsive. The boys had given her quite a workout in the last few months, but getting a human cock to fit would be a stretch. 

Gritting her teeth over a groan, she rolled her hips with the aid of that powerful tail and bucked herself deeper onto Daxter's length. His girth spread her wide, wider than anything ever had. 

Daxter sputtered half of a concern, which fell into incoherence as his girlfriend wiggled her way up his erection. Jak seemed wholly unaware, thrusting away at the speechless human. 

Meanwhile, Tess had wrestled herself halfway up her boyfriend's shaft. She grappled for every millimeter, slipping a paw behind his balls for leverage as the other steadied her against the bed. Her fingers brushed against the swaying tail of the thrusting ottsel. 

The touch caught Jak's attention. He looked around Daxter's bony chest to see her struggling up his last few inches. His blue eyes widened in surprise. 

With the defiance of a mountain climber, the female ottsel gripped her human lover by the back of the balls and shoved herself fully onto him. Her other hand had moved from the bed to the base of his shaft. As a human, she could've taken him, but in this body she'd reached her limit. Pretty impressive, though, for three feet tall. Under her breath, she thanked the Precursors for being so stretchy. 

The pressure behind and in front of his shaft cast a stammering Daxter over the edge. His dick pulsed in her grasp and deep into her passage. With nowhere to go but out, the fresh heat of his seed rushed out around his dick. It leaked out around his shaft to run down her hand and along her tail. 

Stunned, Jak stopped thrusting and gaped.

Her unsteady paw milked the base of Daxter's dick while her stretched muscles did their best on the rest. As it softened within her, she flipped the greenish ottsel the victory sign with a weary wink. As her human lover shuddered atop her, she panted: "Told you I could handle double penetration..."

~ ~ ~

Gasping and collapsing to the bed, Dax found himself at the center of an ottsel cream sandwich. Even as his dick softened inside Tess, Jak resumed humping behind him. That hot little length of ottsel flesh slid in and out of him. Sleeker than his own fingers, warmer than Tess's toys, it prodded all around inside him to rub along all sorts of pleasant places. 

Beneath him, his girlfriend's paws worked over her clit and nipples. Hot waves of breath washed against his bare chest, somehow more naked without its fur. Still full of his cock, she trembled and gasped on the edge of orgasm. 

Jak gripped the human's hips with a trill of ecstasy. He slammed his cock fully into that tingling entrance. A rush of wet heat left the human blushing as those strong little paws gripped his flanks. After a few luscious seconds, the smaller mammal relaxed and slumped onto him, gasping.

Just on the edge of passing out from pleasure, the redhead eased himself down beside Tess and brought his lips to her ear. "Happy birthday, angel-cheeks..." 

~ ~ ~

Awash in the heady haze of afterglow, Jak panted from the curve of his boyfriend's freckled rump. "Wow, can't wait to see what I get on my birthday."

With his lovers collapsed in a pile under him, the hero of Haven City caught his breath amid the afterglow. Just a few months ago, he'd been resigned to Dax and Tess having all the fun, accepting all he was really good at was blowing things up. Now, as he curled up beside his boyfriend and girlfriend on the bed, he finally felt at home in this time, this place, this city. It was more than just making the best of a bad situation: it was the good situation. The best. And, as he drifted off to sleep, he couldn't wait for another day of it tomorrow.

~ ~ ~

Well, here it is! The last chapter. Not saying we'll never come back to this setting, but the Internet has taught me you should appreciate endings when you get them.

Edits: :iconCarlminez:  
Art lines: :iconSlate:  
Art colors: :iconTempo321:  
Words: :iconsillyneko345: & Tempo

~Tempo


	11. Flashback Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a gift from Zetht and me to my amazing co-author SillynekoRobin, because she is the queen of ottsel stories and deserves some she didn't have to write. : )
> 
> Note: This takes place before the rest of the series.

Jak & Daxter: Precursor Predilections  
By Tempo

\------------------------------------------

  


With the help of Daxter's eager paws, Tess wriggled free of the last of her clothes. Her lithe form sprawled against the bedsheets, beside his already-nude body. Grinding against her with a grin, he kissed down her neck. She squeaked, surprised by the wetness of her fellow ottsel's nose. Even now, even naked, she hadn't quite gotten used to her Precursor body. He nuzzled closer to her, nosing under her golden hair. His hands ran down her body, smoothing sleek fur. Their foreheads pressed together, spines curved in ways that would've sent her human body to a chiropractor. That soft nose met hers again, more kisses following.

Her nervous hands settled on his shoulders, stroking his familiar form. His body still moved with liquid ease under her touch. Her heart still skipped a beat when he looked up at her. His tender paws played with her long hair. With a deep breath, she relaxed, opening her mouth to the kiss.

That little tongue of his didn't feel so little in her mouth, though it moved with eager speed. Her heart raced, ears lowering under the weight of her arousal. Wetness collected in her groomed pubic hair--Dax had been right about shaving.

Heat flushed under her fur. She'd never considered that ottsels still blushed. The heat lingered longer than for humans, no doubt due to insulation. Just as she started to design a heat sink necklace in her mind, he nibbled the fur of her jawline, the sensation scribbling over her mental blueprints.

"Oh!" She hugged his back, tilting her head to let him kiss down her neck. 

Gentle teeth parted her fur, scritching the skin beneath. He pressed her back against the silky purple sheets. Her tail got in the way a little, but a rock of her hips wiggled it back between her legs. Above her, those playful blue eyes searched hers, one orange paw stroking a lock of hair from her cheek, the other caressing her drooped ears. "Honey, ya got no idea how long I've wanted this…"

A slight bump against her thigh. Her gaze flicked down to see the red tip of his cock against their yellow fur. A thin sheen of liquid coated his head, as well as a streak of her fur. Her unsteady hand reached down, exploring, tracing the edge of his sheath, cupping his fuzzy sac. Her blush deepened at the thought of that night he'd gotten a little too excited from her petting, remembering how shy and aroused and adorable he'd been. She ground her legs together, lips slick with anticipation. 

Daxter toyed with the fluff above her breasts and straddled her tail, pleasure spreading his grin as she toyed with him. Her hands stroked his sheath back, stroking his bare flesh. A shiver traveled down his entire spine. Tess smiled. She'd always had good manual dexterity. 

A few more strokes and she started to feel his precum collecting and evaporating on her knuckle fur, cool on her hot skin. A quiet giggled bubbled up inside her. She glanced up at him. "I still like petting you."

Eyes hazed with pleasure, Daxter moaned his unintelligible approval. He drooled a little, paws on her tender breasts. 

Tess smiled, feeling safe with his weight on her waist. She stroked faster, tugging his sheath now and then, liking how it made his balls move, liking how it made him squeak. 

The orange ottsel panted, swelling larger in her paws as pride swelled in her chest. She rubbed faster, squeezing harder, eliciting loader moans from her fuzzy little love-toy. His smile contorted with delight, those long, supple ears couldn't seem to decide how to align. They drooped further, further, the tension growing on his face...

He jerked upright, back arching as he gripped her wrists. Frantic for speed, he helped her stroke, mouth open, eyes squeezed shut. A sudden pulse traveled up the underside of his erection, spurting an arc of white fluid toward her stomach. It landed around her navel, seeping heat through her pelt. Another tremor up his shaft; another splatter of hot semen on her creamy fur. A third throb brought a dribble, the fourth an ooze of rich ottsel appreciation. 

They panted together as Daxter tried not to tip over. She could feel his heartbeat in the fading erection, a pulse she alone had sent racing like a runaway zoomer. A glance down surveyed the damage--a fair amount of come in her fur, but it'd wash out. It had to, considering how often the boy snuck off for some alone time. She examined his dick, watching it retract back home. Not the heftiest weapon she'd fired, but, judging by his face, she couldn't argue with the results. 

After a few moments, he collapsed atop her, uncaring about the sperm on her stomach. Their messy fur intermingled, his tongue seeking hers. They kissed until her hips started bucking, just a little, on their own. He felt so good. 

An orange knee pressed up against her lips. She worked her swollen slit against him, reveling in the texture of his fur as he watched with obvious pride.

She blushed behind her hair, which had gone wild during their session. She watched him rise from her, wondering where he was going.

Reading her expression, he smirked, sinking between her spread thighs. "Baby, what kind of gentleottsel would I be if I didn't return the favor?"

She bit her lip, nervous, as his sleek orange head nuzzled between her thighs, that cold nose brushing through her thin pubic fur. His sticky shaft throbbed on her tail. She wiggled it, feeling his soft sac and sheath move against his stiff length. 

Nuzzles warmed his nose and stirred heat in her folds. His breath teased her, shivering through her thin pelt. He nibbled with ticklish lips at her outer labia, down one side and up the other. Nimble fingers brushed fur aside, locating her nipples, tweaking them, making delicate calibrations to her writhing body. 

She leaned back, eyes closed as her hero's tongue danced deeper into her passage. His nose, cool and wet, brushed her clit. The yellow ottsel gasped, her legs tensing around his head. With considerable effort, she eased them back down, allowing him access to her tender, throbbing nub. It pulsed with pleasure against the texture of his tongue, lifting her breath tighter with every lap. Meanwhile, two slim fingers wriggled into her, their fur matted against her slippery walls. She clenched on them, adoring that her beloved Daxter was the one fingering her. Her hips rocked up on her tail, pressing against his muzzle with urgent need. 

With a smarmy chuckle, he kissed her clitoris, suckling wave upon wave of pleasure through her body. His free hand grabbed her rump as he tilted his head back and forth, lavishing her tingling nub with ardent affection. Faster and faster his fingers stroked in her, wet noises echoing through her bedroom, until he discovered a fun little spot just under her mons…

She shivered.

He rubbed with frantic delight, french-kissing her clit. 

Gripping sheets, she gasped. 

Her passage clenched and fluttered at his fingers, pure joy rippling through her agile body. Her back arched from the bed--paws, shoulders, and tail supporting her weight as orgasm crashed through her. She panted his name, loving how he felt inside her, how he felt as she rippled against him, around him. As that shining moment diffused into afterglow, she eased back to the mattress. 

After a few victory laps, Daxter licked his lips and rose from her petals. One paw wiped his messy whiskers, but his smug smirk remained. As he crawled up her body, her tail twined with his. A deep, musky kiss. They rolled together, relishing the feel and flavor of one another. She pulled the sheet over them, her feet wrapped around his tail base, her hands roaming his back, safe and naked in the embrace of the ottsel she adored. 

\------------------------------------------

Been super-busy polishing up Windfall, so I thought I'd post a little something for you guys. : ) I'd been meaning to write ottsel smut for years and I'm pretty proud of this story. Zetht drew the original pic a while back and helped with the story. Go check out her stuff!

Let me know what you think! *wags* 

Art: Zetht  
Proofs: Slate, Carlminez, Darkdragon452, Apollo, TheFunkyOne

-Tempo

**Author's Note:**

> Art: Slate & Zetht  
> Used with permission.


End file.
